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ST.  LOUIS 


CENTRAL 
TRAFFIC -PARKWAY 


RECOMMENDED 
BY 

The  City  Plan  Commission 


JULY,    1912 


CITY    PLAN    COMMISSION 
OF  ST.  LOUIS 


MEMBERS  EX-OFFICIO 

John  H.  Gundlach, 
President  City  Council 

John  H.  Sommerich, 
Speaker  House  of  Delegates 

Maxime  Reber, 
President  Board  of  Public  Improvements 

James  C.  Tra villa, 
Street  Commissioner 

DwiGHT  M.  Davis, 
Park  Commissioner 

James  N.  McKelvey, 
Building  Commissioner 


MEMBERS  APPOINTED  BY  MAYOR 

George  E.  Kessler       Colin  M.  Selph  Cyrus  P.  Walbridge 

Hugo  A.  Koehler         Charles  A.  Stix  Harry  B.  Wallace 

Philip  C.  Scanlan        William  Trelease        Thomas  C.  Young 


Walter  B.  Stevens, 

Secretary 


—  2  — 


25745 

AN  ORDINANCE  CREATING  A  CITY  PLAN 

COMMISSION,  DEFINING  THE 

DUTIES  THEREOF 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  Municipal  Assembly  of  the  City  of  St. 
Louis,  as  follows : 

Section  One.  There  is  hereby  created  a  Commission  to  be  known 
as  the  City  Plan  Commission  which  shall  consist  of  fifteen  members. 

Section  Two.  The  President  of  the  City  Council  ex-ofificio,  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates  ex-ofificio,  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Public  Improvements  ex-ofificio,  the  Street  Commissioner 
ex-officio,  the  Park  Commissioner  ex-ofificio,  and  the  Commissioner  of 
Public  Buildings  ex-ofificio  shall  be  members  of  said  Commission.  The 
other  nine  members  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  and  all  members 
of  said  Commission  shall  serve  without  compensation.  Five  of  said 
nine  members  to  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  shall  be  appointed  for 
four  years  and  the  remaining  four  members  shall  be  appointed  for 
two  years.  All  of  said  members  so  appointed  shall  hold  their  re- 
spective ofifice  until  their  successors  shall  be  duly  appointed  and  quali- 
fied. 

Section  Three.  The  qualifications  of  the  members  so  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Mayor  shall  be  as  provided  in  Section  Ten  of  Article 
Four  of  the  Charter  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis. 

Section  Four.     The  duties  of  the  City  Plan  Commission  shall  be : 

First.  To  prepare  a  comprehensive  city  plan  for  the  future  im- 
provement, as  well  as  for  the  commercial  development  of  the  city,  in- 
cluding recommendations  for : 

(a)  Improvement  of  the  river  front; 

(b)  Extension  of  streets  and  the  supervision  of  the  opening  of 
sub-divisions ; 

—  3  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


(c)  Improvement  of  surroundings  of  Union  Station ; 

(d)  A  system  of  widening  and  opening  various  through  streets 
so  as  to  make  the  city  more  cohesive  and  less  disjointed ; 

(e)  Control  of  nuisances; 

(f)  A  playground,  park  and  boulevard  system; 

(g)  Location  of  public  buildings ; 

(h)  Encouraging  the  location  of  manufacturing  establishments 
in  designated  districts ; 

(i)   Extension  of  conduit  district  for  wires; 

(j)  Extension  of  granitoid  sidewalk  districts,  and  for  the  regu- 
lation of  same  in  the  residence  districts  so  as  to  provide  for  the  plant- 
ing of  trees  and  for  sufficient  soil  space  to  assure  their  growth ; 

(k)  Such  other  improvements  as  will  tend  to  make  St.  Louis  a 
greater  and  more  beautiful  city. 

Second.  To  suggest  the  state  and  municipal  legislation  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  the  recommendations  of  the  Commission. 

Section  Five.  The  Commission  shall  make  all  rules  for  its  guid- 
ance and  procedure. 

Section  Six.  The  Commission  shall  submit  a  report  to  the  Mu- 
nicipal Assembly  as  comprehensive  as  may  be,  on  or  before  January 
first,  nineteen  hundred  and  twelve,  and  shall  make  such  other  reports 
as  the  Commission  may  deem  advisable. 

Approved  March  27,  1911. 


—  4 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


CENTRAL  TRAFFIC -PARKWAY 

REPORT  OF  THE  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION,  JULY  9,  1912. 

To  the  Honorable  Municipal  Assembly  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis — 
Gentlemen: 

Under  the  provisions  of  ordinance  25745,  approved  March  27, 
1911,  the  City  Plan  Commission  submits  the  following  report  ; 

The  Commission  unanimously  recommends  that  the  city  acquire 
by  condemnation  the  property  embraced  in  the  city  blocks  bounded 
by  Market  and  Chestnut  streets.  Twelfth  street  and  Jefferson  avenue, 
to  create  a  central  traffic-parkway.  The  Commission  recommends 
this  as  the  essential  first  step  to  be  taken  under  Section  Four  of  the 
Ordinance,  which  provides  that — 

' '  The  duties  of  the  City  Plan  Commission  shall  be : 

"P"'irst.  To  prepare  a  comprehensive  city  plan  for  the  future 
improvement  as  well  as  for  the  commercial  development  of  the  city, 
including  recommendations  for : 

"(c)   Improvement  of  surroundings  of  Union  Station. 

"(d)  A  system  of  widening  and  opening  various  through  streets, 
so  as  to  make  the  city  more  cohesive  and  less  disjointed. 

"(f)  A  playground,  park  and  boulevard  system." 

The  Initial  Step. 

This  traffic-parkway  from  Twelfth  street  to  Jefferson  avenue  is 
the  initial  step  in  the  planning  for  a  greater  and  better  St.  Louis. 
If  approved,  it  will  be  followed  naturally  by  extension  westward  from 
Jefferson  avenue  to  Grand  avenue.  The  best  city  planning  is  that  which 
permits  traffic  to  pass  from  any  point  to  any  other  point  in  a  city  by 
the  most  direct  and  expeditious  routes.  Judged  by  such  definition 
St.  Louis  to-day  is  not  well  planned.  The  traffic-parkway  from 
Twelfth  street  to  Grand  avenue  will  become  a  main  artery  of  travel 
east  and  west.  It  will  be  supplemented  by  connecting  radial  thor- 
oughfares which  will  make  the  city  cohesive.     There  will  follow  prop- 

—  5  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


erly  the  creation  of  a  traffic-parkway  from  the  vicinity  of  Twelfth 
street  and  Washington  avenue  northwesterly,  touching  small  parks 
and  playgrounds,  including  St.  Louis  Place,  and  making  connection 
with  Natural  Bridge  Road  and  Florissant  avenue.  This  will  bring 
North  St.  Louis  into  direct  and  close  relationship  with  the  business 
center.  From  Twelfth  street  and  Clark  avenue  will  extend  south- 
westerly to  the  suburbs  a  traffic-parkway  corresponding  with  that  of 
the  northwest,  reaching  the  parks  and  playgrounds  of  the  southern 
half  of  the  city  and  tying  that  section  by  direct  means  of  communica- 
tion to  the  business  center. 

Depreciating  Values. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Olive  and  Twelfth  streets  values  range  from 
$1,000  a  front  foot  upwards.  About  the  intersection  of  Grand  av- 
enue and  Olive  street  values  have  climbed  to  similar  figures.  Be- 
tween these  two  centers  of  high-priced  and  rising  property  lies  a  strip 
two  miles  long  and  half  a  mile  wide.  Three-fourths  of  the  property 
embraced  in  that  strip  is  not  worth  as  much  as  it  was  twenty  years 
ago.  A  considerable  portion  would  not  sell  to-day  for  the  prices  re- 
alized thirty  years  ago.  And  some  of  it  has  dropped  below  the  value 
of  forty  years  ago.  The  depreciation  in  many  blocks  has  carried  this 
property  do^Tiward  to  one-third  and  one-half  of  what  it  was  consid- 
ered worth  by  a  former  generation.  Rentals  have  been  reduced  to 
fractions  of  what  the  improved  property  once  yielded.  Four-fifths 
of  the  buildings  have  been  allowed  to  deteriorate.  Hundreds  of  these 
buildings  are  now  untenanted.  A  thousand  of  them  yield  the  owners 
only  nominal  revenue. 

A  Blighted  District. 

And  yet  this  strip  is  the  geographical  center  of  St.  Louis.  Its 
gently  undulating  topography  is  ideal  for  the  best  city  growth.  This 
"blighted  district"  fronts  upon  the  main  gateway  into  the  city. 
Lengthwise  through  it  run  the  chief  lines  of  travel  between  the  busi- 
ness center  and  the  residence  sections. 

Except  in  a  few  scattered  localities  the  conditions,  bad  as  they 
are,  are  growing  worse.  The  general  tendency  of  values  is  down- 
ward. More  than  one-half  of  the  frontage  is  for  sale.  There  is  prac- 
tically no  market  for  ground  west  of  Jefferson  avenue,  east  of  Theresa 
avenue  and  south  of  Locust  street.  The  occasional  transactions  that 
are  taking  place  east  of  Jefferson  avenue  are  at  prices  so  low  as  to 
tempt  speculative  buyers  willing  to  wait  an  indefinite  period. 

The  few  improvements  between  Olive  and  Market  streets  consist 

—  6  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


chiefly  of  light  manufacturing  plants  attracted  there  by  the  cheapness 
of  the  ground.  Possibly  in  the  coui-se  of  the  next  two  generations 
this  blighted  district,  if  nothing  is  done  to  redeem  it,  may  be  occu- 
pied by  three-story  and  four-story  factories.  That  seems  to  be  fore- 
casted by  the  transition  now  in  its  early  stages.  Such  an  evolution 
would  fix  the  undesirable  character  of  the  strip  for  the  next  half  cen- 
tury and  perhaps  permanently.  It  would  hold  down  values  in  the  en- 
tire district.  It  would  have  a  damaging  influence  on  the  city's 
growth. 

Grand  and  Olive. 

To-day  the  commercial  and  financial  heart  of  St.  Louis  is  between 
Fourth  and  Twelfth  streets,  Washington  avenue  and  Market  streets. 
Five  years  ago  the  intersection  of  Broadway  and  Washington  avenue 
was  the  center  of  greatest  sidewalk  traffic.  To-day,  in  the  course  of 
every  twenty-four  hours,  more  people  pass  the  crossing  of  Grand  av- 
enue and  Olive  street  than  any  other  intersection  of  St.  Louis  thor- 
oughfares. Grand  avenue  is  fifteen  minutes  from  North  St.  Louis, 
from  South  St.  Louis,  from  West  St.  Louis,  from  anywhere.  The 
daily  papers,  mthin  a  month,  have  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
improvements  being  made  and  planned  in  the  vicinity  of  this  rising 
center  amount  to  over  $6,000,000. 

No  gift  of  prophecy  is  necessary  to  predict  what  may  happen  if 
the  central  section  of  the  city  from  Twelfth  street  to  Grand  avenue  is 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  present  undesirable  state  until  occupied 
gradually  by  manufacturing  industries  encouraged  by  the  present 
cheapness  of  the  ground.  From  Twelfth  street  to  Grand  avenue  the 
district  between  Washington  avenue  and  Market  street  should  be  pre  • 
pared  for  the  future  commercial  expansion.  In  obedience  to  the 
city's  natural  growth  stores,  wholesale  and  retail,  hotels,  downtown 
apartment  houses,  places  of  amusement,  should  occupy  the  territory 
westward  along  Washington  avenue.  Locust,  Olive,  Pine,  Chestnut 
and  Market  streets.  These  frontages  should  advance  rapidly  by  the 
legitimate  expansion  of  business  and  without  depreciation  of  any 
other  section. 

Shifting  Values. 

St.  Louis  has  suffered  severely  from  the  shifting  of  values.  The 
city  has  seen  the  leading  commercial  thoroughfares  of  one  generation 
become  the  depreciated  and  half-deserted  avenues  of  another.  The 
palatial  homes  of  one  generation  have  become  the  rooming  houses  of 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


the  next.  St.  Louis  has  ruins  east  of  Fourth  street  and  this  long 
blighted  district  west  of  Twelfth  street.  City  planning  should  aim 
to  steady  and  make  permanent  the  values  of  the  business  district.  It 
should  provide  for  logical  commercial  growth  which  will  not  be  at 
the  expense  and  loss  of  any  other  section.  It  should  create  great 
thoroughfares  which  mil  take  care  of  future  traffic  without  that  con- 
gestion already  apparent  on  downtown  streets. 

Looking  to  such  desirable  development,  the  City  Plan  Commis- 
sion recommends  the  acquisition  of  the  blocks  between  Market  and 
Chestnut  streets  westward  from  Twelfth  street  to  Jefferson  avenue, 
for  the  creation  of  the  central  traffic-parkway.  Present  low  values 
of  realty  encourage  immediate  action. 

Conditions  Which  Favor. 

The  frontage  on  Twelfth  street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut 
streets,  is  assessed  at  $1,000  per  front  foot  for  the  corner  of  Twelfth 
and  Chestnut,  and  $1,100  per  front  foot  for  the  corner  at  Twelfth  and 
Market.  The  frontage  on  Twelfth  street  between  the  two  corners  is 
assessed  at  $650  per  front  foot. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  block,  extending  to  Thirteenth  street, 
the  frontage  on  Chestnut  street  is  assessed  at  $225  and  on  Market 
street  at  $400.  These  assessments  hold  for  the  two  frontages  except 
the  corners  at  Thirteenth  street,  which  are  assessed  at  $350  for  the 
Chestnut  street  corner  and  $500  for  the  Market  street  corner. 

On  Grand  avenue,  the  western  terminus  of  the  proposed  traffic- 
parkway,  the  ground  between  Lawton  and  Pine  streets  is  assessed  at 
$350  on  Pine  for  the  Grand  avenue  corner  and  at  $150  on  Lawton  for 
the  Grand  avenue  corner.  From  both  ends  of  the  traffic-parkway 
valuations  diminish  rapidly.  East  of  Jefferson  avenue  the  ground  is 
assessed  as  low  as  $55  per  front  foot  for  Chestnut  street  frontage,  and 
as  low  as  $65  per  front  foot  for  Market  street  frontage.  West  of  Jef- 
ferson avenue  a  considerable  part  of  the  frontage  of  Pine  street  is  as- 
sessed as  low  as  $35  per  front  foot,  while  the  assessment  of  the  ground 
fronting  on  Lawton  avenue  between  Jefferson  and  Grand  for  several 
blocks  runs  as  low  as  $30  per  front  foot. 

Cheap  Improvements. 

The  valuations  of  improvements  in  the  blocks  within  the  limits  of 
the  proposed  traffic-parkway  show  the  same  tendency  downward.  Be- 
tween Twelfth  street  and  Jefferson  avenue.  Market  and  Chestnut 
streets,  there  is  only  one  block  on  which  the  improvements  are  rated 

—  8  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


by  the  assessor  at  over  $100,000.  That  is  the  block  between  Eigh- 
teenth and  Nineteenth,  Market  and  Chestnut  streets,  opposite  Union 
Station.  The  principal  structures  are  hotels.  The  total  valuation  of 
the  improvements  of  the  entire  block  is  $116,800.  The  improvements 
of  the  block  between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth,  Market  and  Chest- 
nut, are  valued  at  only  $41,800.  The  valuations  of  improvements 
on  the  other  blocks  range  between  $45,000  and  $100,000. 

The  total  valuation  of  all  of  the  improvements  in  the  twelve 
blocks  from  Twelfth  street  to  Jefferson  avenue,  comprehended  in  the 
recommended  plan  for  the  traffic-parkway,  is  $840,950,  an  average 
of  only  $70,000  to  the  block. 

In  the  nine  blocks  forming  what  may  become  the  western  sec- 
tion of  the  proposed  traffic-parkway,  between  Lawton  avenue  and 
Pine  street,  extending  from  Jefferson  avenue  to  Grand  avenue,  the 
improvements  range  from  $49,500  to  $128,600.  The  former  valua- 
tion is  for  the  improvements  of  the  block  between  Leffingwell  and 
Ewing,  while  the  latter  valuation  covers  the  block  between  Ewing  and 
Garrison.  The  total  assessed  valuation  for  all  improvements  on  the 
nine  blocks  is  $815,100, 

For  the  entire  twenty-one  blocks  between  Twelfth  street  and 
Grand  avenue  the  valuation  of  the  improvements  is  placed  by  the  as- 
sessor at  only  $1,656,050. 

Traffic-Parkway  Plans. 

Five  tentative  plans  before  the  Commission  illustrate  the  possi- 
ble development  of  this  traffic-parkway.  The  blocks  between  Market 
and  Chestnut  streets  are  narrow  from  north  to  south  as  compared 
with  other  St.  Louis  city  blocks.  Lots  fronting  on  these  streets  are 
only  81  feet  deep  in  the  block  from  Twelfth  to  Thirteenth  street. 
West  of  Thirteenth  street  the  lots  are  from  72  feet  to  73  feet  5  inches 
in  depth.     This  shallow  condition  prevails  to  Jefferson  avenue. 

The  condemnation  of  the  blocks  would  give  the  city  for  the  pro- 
posed traffic-parkway  a  space  of  287  feet  width  from  the  north  side 
of  Chestnut  street  to  the  south  side  of  Market  street.  The  tentative 
plans  contemplate  a  division  of  this  space  into  sidewalks,  two  traffic- 
ways,  two  spaces  for  street  car  tracks,  two  narrow  parks  and  a  cen 
tral  boulevard. 

The  tentative  plans  differ  chiefly  in  the  proposed  width  of  the 
sub-divisions.  One  of  the  plans  gives  the  sidewalks  along  the  prop- 
erty line  of  Chestnut  and  Market  streets  a  width  of  ten  feet.  Next 
to  the  sidewalk  is  allowed  a  space  of  ten  feet  for  grass  and  trees.  The 

—  9  — 


Report  op  the  City  Plan  Commission 


trafficways  are  45  feet  in  width,  this  space  including  the  two  reserva- 
tions for  the  car  tracks,  which  are  located  along  the  south  side  of  the 
Chestnut  street  trafficway  and  along  the  north  side  of  the  Market 
street  trafficway.  Next  to  the  car  track  reservations  are  the  strips  of 
parking,  each  having  a  width  of  about  55  feet.  This  width  is  divided 
to  provide  for  a  lawn  of  thirty  feet,  with  two  rows  of  trees,  bordered 
by  walks  12  feet  wide.  Between  the  two  strips  of  parking  is  a  boule- 
vard 50  feet  in  width. 

Five  Tentative  Plans. 

The  trafficways  are  for  business  and  slow-moving  vehicles.  The 
boulevard  is  intended  for  fast-moving  light  vehicles.  Along  the  street 
car  reservations  are  walks  bordering  on  the  strips  of  lawn.  This  ten- 
tative plan  is  Sketch  A. 

Sketch  B  varies  from  Sketch  A  in  that  it  offers  a  different  ar- 
rangement of  the  walks  in  the  parking,  so  that  one  walk  passes  be- 
tween and  underneath  the  double  row  of  trees.  The  space  allowed 
between  the  rows  of  trees  is  20  feet.  The  park  width,  including  the 
walk  beneath  the  trees,  is  53  feet  6  inches.  The  trafficways  in  Sketch 
B  are  45  feet,  the  same  as  in  Sketch  A. 

Sketch  C  proposes  to  make  the  walks  on  the  Chestnut  and  Mar- 
ket street  frontages  16  feet  wide  and  narrows  the  trafficways  to  36 
feet,  placing  the  street  car  tracks  within  the  parking  in  such  manner 
that  only  the  rails  show  above  the  grass.  This  plan  would  give  for 
the  parking,  which  includes  the  street  car  track  space  and  the  walk 
on  either  side  of  the  double  row  of  trees,  a  greater  width  than  sug- 
gested in  the  other  sketches. 

Sketch  D  also  suggests  the  placing  of  the  car  tracks  in  the  park- 
ing and  covering  all  but  the  rails  with  grass.  It  allows  16  feet  for 
the  Chestnut  and  Market  street  walks,  and  gives  the  driveways  a  clear 
width  without  street  car  interference  of  36  feet.  It  provides  for  two 
rows  of  trees  in  each  strip  of  parking  on  either  side  of  the  boulevard, 
and  for  a  row  of  trees  between  the  sidewalks  and  the  trafficways. 

Sketch  E  illustrates  the  possibilities  of  a  subway  underneath  the 
traffic-parkway  at  minimum  cost  for  construction  and  with  no  dam- 
age to  abutting  property.  The  removal  of  the  car  tracks  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  subway  would  allow,  according  to  this  sketch,  a  width  of 
66  feet  6  inches  for  each  strip  of  parking,  including  the  sidewalks  un- 
derneath the  trees. 

—  10  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


World-Famous  Thoroughfares. 

In  creating  a  traffic-parkway  such  as  that  proposed  between 
Market  and  Chestnut  streets,  St.  Louis  will  be  proceeding  along  lines 
of  development  which  have  been  tested  and  proved  in  other  cities. 
The  width  is  not  excessive  as  compared  with  what  other  cities  have 
done.  The  wisdom  of  separation  of  fast  and  slow  traffic  has  been 
demonstrated  and  is  no  longer  questioned.  The  expected  great  in- 
crease of  values  on  either  side  of  the  proposed  traffic-parkway  is 
based  upon  the  experience  of  other  cities.  Paris  has,  in  the  world- 
famous  Avenue  des  Champs  Elysees,  a  thoroughfare  250  feet  wide. 

Philadelphia  has  planned  the  opening  of  a  parkway  from  the 
City  Hall  to  the  Art  Museum  on  Reservoir  Hill  and  Fairmount  Park, 
to  be  cut  diagonally  through  existing  blocks.  This  parkway  is  to  be 
300  feet  wide,  and  the  cost  of  it  is  estimated  at  between  $7,000,000 
and  $8,000,000.  Experts  have  reported  that  the  increase  of  tax  rev- 
enue due  to  the  enhanced  values  of  adjacent  property  will  net  enough 
to  pay  the  interest  on  a  bond  issue  for  the  full  cost  of  the  property 
condemned  and  to  provide  a  sinking  fund. 

Some  of  the  great  thoroughfares  of  the  world  which  have  re- 
deemed districts  and  greatly  increased  values  of  adjacent  property 
are  as  follows : 

The  Avenue  des  Champs  Elysees,  Paris,  250  feet. 

Reeperbahn,  Hamburg,  210  feet. 

Unter  den  Linden,  Berlin,  190  feet. 

Ring  Strasse,  Vienna,  185  feet. 

Belle  Alliance  Strasse,  Berlin,  160  feet. 

Andrassy,  Buda  Pesth,  145  feet. 

Avenue  Henri  Martin,  Paris,  130  feet. 

The  Profit  in  Parkways. 

Kansas  City  affords  a  nearby  illustration  of  what  can  be  done 
by  a  traffic-parkway.  The  Paseo  of  that  city,  a  combination  of  traffic 
and  parkway,  redeemed  a  blighted  district.  It  is  now  bordered  by 
high-class  improvements,  which  have  taken  the  place  of  small,  cheap 
structures.  The  property  adjacent  to  the  Paseo  has  doubled  and 
trebled  in  value  as  the  result  of  the  improvement. 

Commonwealth  avenue  in  Boston  affords  another  illustration  of 
values  given  to  abutting  property  by  two  trafficways  with  parking 
between. 

—  11  — 


Report  op  the  City  Plan  Commission 


The  plan  of  Seattle,  recently  adopted  by  the  Municipal  Plan 
Commission  of  that  city,  provides  for  a  central  avenue  180  feet  wide. 

A  significant  fact  bearing  upon  the  central  traffic-parkway  prop- 
osition is  the  local  condition  at  two  points  on  the  two-mile  strip.  The 
most  valuable  properties  which  it  is  proposed  to  condemn  lie  in  front 
of  the  City  Hall  and  in  front  of  the  Union  Station.  These  two  blocks 
in  front  of  the  City  Hall  with  improvements  are  assessed  at  $601,970 ; 
the  two  blocks  in  front  of  Union  Station  with  improvements  are  as- 
sessed at  $694,245.  The  total  of  the  four  blocks,  $1,296,215,  is  31.5 
per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuations  of  the  entire  21  blocks  from 
Twelfth  street  to  Grand  avenue.  The  marked  increase  in  values  of 
the  properties  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  and  in  front  of  the  Union 
Station  are  due  largely  to  the  civic  center  and  to  the  transportation 
center.  They  safely  indicate  what  may  be  expected  for  adjacent 
property  in  the  way  of  increased  values  as  soon  as  the  central  traffic- 
parkway  is  a  certainty. 

Union  Station  Surroundings. 

Every  public-spirited  citizen  of  St.  Louis  has  regretted  the  de- 
pressing influence  of  surroundings  upon  the  stranger  stepping  out  of 
Union  Station.  Many  park  and  boulevard  suggestions  to  remedy  the 
situation  have  been  made  and  urged.  The  central  traffic-parkway 
will  be  more  effective  than  any  limited  park  or  plaza.  From  the 
front  of  Union  Station  the  stranger  will  look  east  or  west  as  far  as 
the  vision  extends  along  the  double  trafificway,  the  boulevard  and  the 
parking.  The  view  will  be  such  as  no  other  American  city  affords  the 
incoming  stranger. 

St.  Louis  has  no  park  between  "Wash  street  on  the  north  and  the 
Mill  Creek  valley  on  the  south.  There  is  not  in  all  this  central  sec- 
tion a  spot  out  of  doors  which  offers  rest.  The  proposed  improve- 
ment will  give  the  city  a  park  two  miles  long,  narrow,  to  be  sure,  but 
of  sufficient  width  for  trees  and  grass,  walks  and  seats.  From  the 
south  and  from  the  north  these  park  facilities  will  be  within  easy 
walking  distance  of  many  thousands  of  those  city  dwellers  to  whom 
the  shade  and  the  green  mean  most. 

Down-Town  Dwellers. 

All  of  St.  Louis  cannot  live  west  of  Grand  avenue.  There  is  a 
downtown  population  to-day.  There  will  be  a  downtown  population 
for  generations  to  come.  The  people  who  must  make  their  homes 
within  the  central  strip  and  near  its  northern  and  southern  borders 

—  12  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


have  rights  to  fresh  air  and  to  the  other  park  benefits.  This  central 
parkway  will  recognize  those  rights  for  all  time  to  come. 

The  opening  of  wide,  tree-bordered  thoroughfares  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  large  parks  west  of  Grand  avenue  have  made  the  St. 
Louis  summer  not  only  tolerable  but  agreeable  to  a  large  proportion 
of  the  population.  The  creation  of  spacious  parkways  east  of  Grand 
avenue  will  tend  to  similar  conditions  in  that  section  and  is  justly 
due  to  the  people  who  live  there. 

The  primary  reason  for  the  traffic-parkway  is  found  in  the  travel 
facilities  which  such  a  thoroughfare  will  afford  the  present  and  com- 
ing generations.  From  several  other  points  of  view  the  proposition 
is  interesting  and  desirable. 

A  Section  Without  Parks. 

The  population  between  Lucas  avenue  on  the  north  and  the  Mill 
Creek  Valley  railroad  tracks  on  the  south,  Twelfth  street  on  the  east 
and  Grand  avenue  on  the  west,  as  shown  by  the  census  of  1910,  is 
40,601. 

To  this  may  be  added  properly  the  population  between  Lucas 
avenue  on  the  south  and  Cass  avenue  on  the  north,  Twelfth  street  on 
the  east  and  Grand  avenue  on  the  w^est.  This  resident  population, 
according  to  the  census  of  1910,  is  60,939. 

According  to  the  latest  census,  therefore,  there  are  101,540  peo- 
ple of  St.  liouis  living  within  easy  walking  distance  of  the  central 
traffic-parkway.  And  these  101,540  people  are  almost  entirely  with- 
out park  benefits  to-day.  They  have  one  park  of  a  single  block  on 
Carr  street  and  one  of  a  single  block  on  Glasgow  avenue.  They  have 
two  playgrounds,  each  of  a  single  block. 

Within  the  district  bounded  by  Lucas  avenue  on  the  north,  Mill 
Creek  valley  on  the  south,  Grand  avenue  on  the  west  and  Twelfth 
street  on  the  east  there  are  991  acres,  showing  at  present  a  resident 
population  of  41  to  the  acre.  In  other  words,  there  are  in  this  dis- 
trict 26,218  people  to  the  square  mile. 

Within  the  district  bounded  by  Cass  avenue  on  the  north,  Lucas 
avenue  on  the  south.  Twelfth  street  on  the  east  and  Grand  avenue  on 
the  west,  there  are  763.81  acres,  showing  at  present  a  resident  popu- 
lation of  79.7  to  the  acre.  In  this  district  there  are  59,462  people  to 
the  square  mile. 

Density  of  Population. 

The  average  population  of  St.  Louis  to  the  acre  is  17.49,  or  11,193 
to  the  square  mile. 

—  13  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


The  greatest  density  of  population  in  St.  Louis,  as  shown  by  the 
census  of  1910,  is  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  0 'Fallon  and  High 
streets,  where  the  average  is  162  to  the  acre.  The  next  greatest  den- 
sity of  population  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Biddle  and  Eighteenth  streets, 
where  the  average  is  148  to  the  acre.  The  third  greatest  density  is 
in  the  vicinity  of  Thirteenth  and  Carr  streets,  where  the  average  is 
145  to  the  acre. 

Here  are  the  great  melting  pots  of  St.  Louis.  Here  live  these 
many  thousands  of  St.  Louisans  to  whom  Forest,  0 'Fallon  and  Ca- 
rondelet  parks  are  almost  unkno\'\m  countries.  Car  fare  is  a  finan- 
cial problem  with  many.  Park  privileges  must  be  within  walking 
distance  for  Ihem.  To  these  considerable  elements  in  the  population 
the  parkway  offers  that  rest  and  recreation  to  which  their  citizenship 
entitles  them. 

The  Night  Problem. 

In  the  central  traffic-parkway  the  night  problem  of  downtown 
St.  Louis  will  find  a  solution.  The  boulevard,  50  feet  wide,  two  miles 
long,  cleared  for  swift  traffic,  bordered  by  trees  and  grass,  provided 
with  seats,  amply  lighted  after  dark,  will  become  the  most  frequented 
and  most  popular  thoroughfare  in  all  St.  Louis.  Into  it  at  Grand 
avenue  will  tie  Lindell,  West  Pine  and  Forest  Park  boulevards.  In 
and  out  of  it  at  the  Twelfth  street  end  will  flow  night  traffic  such  as 
the  business  district  now  knows  only  on  one  night  of  the  year,  that  of 
the  Veiled  Prophet. 

In  Twelfth  street  to-day  St.  Louis  has  a  fire  guard  of  inestimable 
value.  No  conflagration  driven  east  or  west  could  cross  that  plaza. 
In  the  central  traffic-parkway  St.  Louis  would  possess  a  like  fire  guard 
against  flames  driven  by  a  north  or  a  south  wind.  The  large  cities 
face  continually  the  possibilities  of  spreading  flames.  They  have  en- 
deavored to  lessen  this  danger  by  resort  to  prevention  in  construction 
materials.  Of  more  recent  years,  with  the  warning  experiences  of 
Chicago,  Boston,  Baltimore  and  San  Francisco,  the  argument  in  favor 
of  plazas  or  parkways  dividing  business  districts  into  sections  has 
become  one  of  the  strong  incentives  to  the  opening  of  these  spaces. 
The  central  traffic-parkway  would  give  a  flre  guard  of  two  miles,  im- 
passable for  any  conflagration  starting  in  the  Mill  Creek  valley  and 
driven  northward,  or  for  any  spread  of  flames  originating  between 
Twelfth  street  and  Grand  avenue  and  moving  southward  before  a 
north  wind. 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


Evolution  of  a  City  Plan. 

St.  Louis  fully  recognizes  the  importance  of  planning  for  the 
future.  The  ordinance  creating  the  City  Plan  Commission  and  de- 
fining its  duties  is  evidence  of  it.  The  Commission  is  an  evolution. 
For  several  years  the  Civic  League  and  the  various  improvement  as- 
sociations of  St.  Louis  have  been  devoting  voluntary  effort  toward 
city  planning.  The  Board  of  Public  Improvements  and  the  Munici- 
pal Assembly  have  taken  important  steps  along  the  best  approved 
lines  in  the  direction  of  modern  city  planning.  Public-spirited  citi- 
zens formed  what  was  called  the  City  Plan  Association.  The  mem- 
bers of  that  organization  paid  from  their  o\^^l  pockets  the  expense  of 
much  investigation  and  of  preparation  of  suggestions  for  a  better  St. 
Louis.  They  held  many  meetings  and  presented  through  an  execu- 
tive committee  a  valuable  report  upon  the  subject  of  city  planning 
for  St.  Louis.  The  movement  gained  such  strength  through  the  vol- 
unteer work  of  citizen  organizations  and  through  practical  steps  taken 
by  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  and  the  Municipal  Assembly 
that  the  City  Plan  Commission  was  created  by  ordinance.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission  give  their  time  and  thought  without  compen- 
sation. 

Growth  of  the  City. 

Half  a  century  ago  only  three  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States  dwelt  in  cities.  Now,  as  shown  by  the  census  of  1910, 
thirty-three  of  every  hundred  Americans  live  in  cities  of  8,000  and 
upwards.  Including  those  communities  below  8,000,  the  urban  life 
of  the  United  States  is  between  forty-four  and  forty-five  per  cent  of 
the  entire  population.  In  other  words,  40,000,000  people  now  live 
in  American  cities  and  towns.  More  than  200  of  these  communities 
have  taken  up  city  and  toAvn  planning  to  better  the  living  conditions. 
These  facts  show  the  character  of  the  problem  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  movement. 

Within  the  month  just  passed  the  fourth  session  of  the  National 
City  Planning  Conference  was  held  in  Boston.  The  conference  was 
a  body  of  mayors  and  other  municipal  officers,  architects,  landscape 
architects,  city  engineers  and  city  plan  commissioners  from  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  The  keynote  of  utility 
was  sounded  early  and  often  in  the  session.  Arnold  W.  Brunner  of 
New  York  defined  the  city  planning  movement  in  these  words : 

''The  first  impression  we  must  overcome  is  that  the  city  is  to  be 

—  15  — 


Report  op  the  City  Plan  Commission 


turned  over  to  a  number  of  artists  who  intend  in  some  vague  way  to 
make  it  beautiful.  City  planning  means  the  rational  treatment  of  a 
city  to  promote  the  convenience  and  health  of  its  citizens.  A  city 
plan  will  not  be  ruinously  expensive  and  plunge  the  city  into  debt. 
It  simply  means  the  exercise  of  such  prudence  and  forethought  as  are 
necessary  to  get  the  success  of  any  business  enterprise. ' ' 

Utility,  Comfort,  Economy. 

Frederick  Law  Olmstead,  the  chairman  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee of  the  Conference,  said  at  the  beginning  of  the  sessions  city  plan- 
ning is  "the  intelligent  control  and  guidance  of  the  entire  physical 
growth  and  alterations  of  cities ;  embracing  all  of  the  problems  of  re- 
lieving and  avoiding  congestion — congestion  of  people  in  buildings 
and  of  buildings  upon  land,  congestion  of  transportation  facilities, 
congestion  in  respect  to  the  means  of  supplying  light,  air,  water,  or 
anything  else  essential  to  the  health  and  happiness  of  the  people,  but 
also  embracing  in  addition  to  the  problems  of  congestion,  each  one  of 
the  myriad  problems  involved  in  making  our  cities  year  by  year,  in 
their  physical  arrangement  and  equipment,  healthier,  pleasanter  and 
more  economical  instruments  for  the  use  of  the  people  who  dwell 
within  them  in  carrying  on  the  part  of  the  work  and  life  of  the  world 
which  is  not  to  be  done  in  the  open  country, ' ' 

Experts  on  St.  Louis  Problem. 

In  this  spirit  the  conference  worked  through  the  three  days'  ses- 
sion. One  session  was  devoted  to  "the  problem  of  blighted"  dis- 
tricts, which  J.  Randolph  Coolidge,  Jr.,  described  as  "districts  in 
which  land  values  after  a  period  of  increase  are  stationary  or  fall- 
ing." The  conditions  of  two  blighted  districts  of  St.  Louis  and  the 
treatment  of  them  proposed  by  the  City  Plan  Commission  were  laid 
before  members  of  the  conference  for  criticism.  The  suggested  com- 
bination of  traffic  and  parkways  from  Twelfth  street  westward  to 
Grand  avenue  was  explained.  As  to  the  redeeming  influence  of  this 
plan  upon  the  whole  district  now  suffering  there  was  no  difference  of 
opinion  among  the  city  planners.  Other  cities  have  met  conditions 
similar  to  those  which  exist  between  Twelfth  street  and  Grand  avenue 
and  have  found  that  a  great  thoroughfare  similar  to  that  in  contem- 
plation by  the  City  Plan  Commission  of  St.  Louis  has  quickened 
values  in  the  district  to  a  surprising  degree.  The  payment  of  bene- 
fits by  installments  distributed  through  a  series  of  years  was  strongly 

—  16  — 


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Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


recommended  by  the  city  planners  in  their  consideration  of  the  prac- 
ticability of  the  St.  Louis  trafiic-parkway. 

Other  Cities  Moving. 

Boston,  New  York  and  Philadelphia  are  opening  new  and  widen- 
ing old  streets  in  the  congested  or  blighted  districts  at  the  cost  of 
many  millions  of  dollars  to  remedy  their  local  conditions  similar  to 
those  which  affect  the  St.  Louis  district  between  Twelfth  street  and 
Grand  avenue.  It  was  stated  that  Boston's  plans  for  new  or  wider 
streets,  including  what  has  been  spent  recently,  will  cost  over  $30,- 
000,000.  For  a  third  of  a  century  Boston  has  had  under  considera- 
tion a  thoroughfare  directly  connecting  the  two  great  terminals.  But 
during  this  time  property  values  have  been  increasing,  and  now  such 
a  main  trafficway  will  cost  enormously.  The  regret  of  the  Boston 
authorities  is  that  the  thoroughfare  was  not  put  through  between  the 
terminals  when  the  necessity  for  it  was  first  felt. 

Mr.  Coolidge  is  a  member  of  the  Metropolitan  Plan  Commission 
created  by  the  Massachusetts  Legislature.  In  an  address  before  the 
conference  upon  this  subject  of  blighted  districts,  he  said : 

Conservating  Values.       fj 

' '  City  planning  has  new  functions  more  important  than  the  con- 
servation and  restoration  of  impaired  land  values.  All  that  public 
authority  can  lawfully  do  to  make  life  more  agreeable  in  such  dis- 
tricts should  be  done  rather  than  in  those  that  pay  a  larger  share  of 
the  taxes  or  have  an  increasing  population.  No  city  is  well  admin- 
istered unless  the  whole  of  it  is  well  administered.  Where  private 
capital  halts  and  dreads  the  risk,  and  feels  no  responsibility  for  fu- 
ture conditions,  public  credit  must  be  applied,  and  declining  values, 
social  and  economic,  must  be  supported  until  they  can  stand  alone, 
for  the  city,  unlike  a  business  enterprise,  cannot  liquidate,  it  cannot 
discard  its  unprofitable  lines.  It  must  grow,  it  must  change,  but  it 
must  not  depreciate. ' ' 

Improvement  in  the  approaches  to  and  in  the  thoroughfares 
through  blighted  districts  comes  first  in  the  remedies  suggested  by  the 
experts  in  city  planning.  By  the  widening  of  streets,  by  the  plant- 
ing of  trees,  by  the  creation  of  open  spaces  and  squares,  by  play- 
grounds and  small  parks,  other  cities  are  redeeming  their  blighted 
districts. 

—  17  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


Counting  the  Cost. 

One  of  the  most  important  sessions  of  the  City  Planning  Confer- 
ence was  that  devoted  to  the  problem  of  "paying  the  bills  for  city  im- 
provements." Nelson  P.  Lewis,  chief  engineer  of  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mates and  Apportionment  of  New  York  City,  opened  the  session  with 
a  strong  argument,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said : 

"One  principle  should  be  invariably  recognized;  namely,  where 
there  is  local  benefit  there  should  be  local  assessment."  He  said 
that  a  change  in  the  laws  of  New  York  which  enlarged  the  power  of 
local  assessment  on  property  most  benefited  had  worked  advanta- 
geously. In  the  widening  of  residential  streets  the  experience  of  New 
York  taught  that  the  cost  should  be  assessed  against  abutting  prop- 
erty. But  in  the  ease  of  thoroughfares  of  greater  use,  the  assessment 
district  should  be  extended  beyond  abutting  property. 

Mr.  Lewis  enlarged  on  the  benefits  which  immediately  follow  city 
improvements  by  showing  "that  property  jumped  in  value  in  seven 
years  beyond  the  normal  increase  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  as  a 
result  of  the  first  subway,  $85,000,000.  The  cost  of  the  subway  pass- 
ing through  that  portion  affected  was  $13,000,000,  and  the  cost  of 
the  entire  subway  was  $43,000,000,  so  that  if  the  property  owners 
affected  had  paid  for  the  entire  subway  they  would  have  cleared  $37,- 
500,000,  even  allowing  for  an  interest  charge  of  six  per  cent  until 
their  profits  were  realized. ' ' 

The  Assessment  Principle. 

Concluding  his  address.  Engineer  Lewis  said:  "A  desire  for 
something  which  involves  no  direct  cost  is  not  a  sign  of  intelligent 
interest.  We  are  learning  that  the  improvement  of  our  cities  pays. 
That  is  a  hopeful  sign.  If  we  have  simply  reached  the  stage  where 
we  want  better  conditions  only  if  some  one  else  is  to  pay  the  bills,  the 
hope  has  not  a  very  substantial  basis.  If  we  want  them  badly  enough 
to  pay  for  them  ourselves  in  proportion  to  the  benefit  we  feel  sure 
will  follow,  we  are  making  real  progress. ' ' 

Street  Commissioner  Gallivan  of  Boston  gave  the  conference 
several  illustrations,  notably  that  of  the  widening  of  Avery  street, 
which  had  greatly  increased  values  in  Boston.  He  stated  that  this 
Avery  street  improvement  had  been  followed  by  the  creation  of  a  new 
retail  center  and  that  the  increase  in  values  of  taxable  property  would 
in  a  short  time  cover  every  expenditure  which  the  city  had  made  for 
the  improvements.     Answering  the  question,  "Who  shall  pay  the  cost 

—  18  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


of  city  planning  ? ' '  Commissioner  Gallivan  said :  "  I  see  no  good  rea- 
son why  the  millions  spent  by  American  municipalities  for  public  im- 
provements should  not  be  returned  in  generous  proportion  by  land 
0"WTiers  who  reap  such  tremendous  resultant  profits. ' ' 

City  Planning  Conclusions. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  session  the  National  Conference  adopted 
the  following  as  the  city  planning  conclusions  reached  in  the  experi- 
ence of  those  composing  the  body : 

"Where  there  is  local  benefit  there  should  always  be  local  as- 
sessment on  the  land  benefited. 

"The  entire  city,  or  the  metropolitan  district,  should  bear  no 
part  of  the  expense  unless  the  improvement  is  in  some  degree  of 
metropolitan  importance  and  benefit. 

"Assessments  should  not  be  confined  to  the  cost  of  acquiring  and 
improving  streets,  but  should  extend  to  any  improvement  which  will 
increase  the  value  of  the  neighboring  property,  and  should  be  appor- 
tioned as  nearly  as  possible  according  to  the  probable  benefit. 

' '  A  workable  policy  once  adopted  should  be  consistently  adhered 
to." 

Of  the  sixteen  largest  cities  in  the  United  States  St.  Louis  to-day 
ranks  fourth  in  population  and  twelfth  in  indebtedness  in  proportion 
to  population.  The  687,029  St.  Louisans  are  carrying  a  debt  of  only 
$35.49  per  capita.  Only  four  of  these  sixteen  largest  cities  have  a 
smaller  debt  in  proportion  to  population  than  St.  Louis.  This  re- 
markable showing  is  due  in  the  main  to  the  wisdom  of  former  genera- 
tions of  St.  Louisans  in  the  matter  of  expenditure  for  parks. 

St.  Louis'  Distinction. 

An  analysis  of  the  municipal  debts  of  the  other  large  cities  of  the 
country  shows  that  their  obligations  were  incurred  largely  for  the 
acquisition  of  park  property.  In  the  case  of  St.  Louis,  land  for 
parks  was  obtained  in  advance  of  the  growth  of  the  city  at  prices 
which  now  seem  insignificant.  This  city  for  many  years  enjoyed  the 
distinction  of  having  the  greatest  park  acreage  in  proportion  to  pop- 
ulation of  any  city  in  the  United  States.  That  distinction  was  ob- 
tained by  the  purchase  of  land  for  large  parks  thirty-five  years  ago, 
long  before  the  city  had  grown  to  actually  need  these  parks.  The 
price  per  acre  paid  for  Forest  Park  was  only  $620. 

—  19  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


The  same  argument  which  prompted  the  people  of  St.  Louis 
thirty-five  years  ago  to  acquire  Forest,  0 'Fallon  and  Carondelet 
parks  applies  now  to  the  proposed  traffic-parkway.  The  property  to 
be  condemned  can  be  acquired  to-day  at  very  low  prices  when  imme- 
diate and  future  benefits  are  taken  into  consideration.  These  prices 
average  much  lower  to-day  than  they  have  for  many  years.  They 
prompt  speedy  action  if  there  is  merit  in  the  plan  to  redeem  this  cen- 
tral section  of  the  city  from  its  present  degradation  and  to  insure  for 
the  future  the  character  to  which  its  location  entitles  it. 

A  Wise  Generation. 

The  foresight  of  those  who  planned  and  legislated  in  1870-80  for 
the  future  St.  Louis  gave  the  city  not  only  Forest,  0 'Fallon  and  Ca- 
rondelet parks,  but  widened  to  one  hundred  feet  the  narrow  country 
roads  now  known  as  Kingshighway,  Union  and  Delmar  boulevards. 
The  ground  for  this  additional  width  was  taken  at  acre  prices  from 
farms.  If  the  petitions  and  arguments  of  real  estate  men  had  been 
accepted  in  1850-60  by  the  authorities,  Grand  avenue,  as  laid  out 
then,  would  be  to-day  150  feet  wide  instead  of  the  eighty  feet,  already 
suffering  from  congestion  in  the  vicinity  of  Olive  street. 

The  ordinance  creating  this  body  further  directs  the  City  Plan 
Commission  ' '  to  suggest  the  State  and  municipal  legislation  necessary 
to  carry  out  the  recommendations  of  the  Commission. ' ' 

In  conformance  with  this  provision  the  City  Plan  Commission 
has  held  conferences  with  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  and  with 
the  Law  Department  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis.  The  Law  and  Legislation 
Committee  of  the  Commission  is  conducting  a  thorough  investigatiou 
of  such  sections  of  the  charters  of  other  cities  as  relate  to  improve- 
ments of  the  character  contemplated  for  St.  Louis.  Legislative  enact- 
ments conferring  elsewhere  municipal  powers  which  St.  Louis  does 
not  possess  are  being  examined  as  to  their  practical  operation.  These 
inquiries  are  being  made  thoroughly  and  are  progressing  satisfac- 
torily. 

Legislation  Needed. 

The  members  of  the  Commission  are  unanimously  of  the  opinion 
that  the  city  planning  movement  upon  which  St.  Louis  has  entered 
may  be  greatly  expedited  and  made  far  less  burdensome  by  action  of 
the  Missouri  Legislature  at  the  coming  session  and  by  amendments  to 
the  city  charter  at  the  municipal  election  of  April,  1913.     The  prepara  • 

—  20  — 


Report  of  the  City  Plan  Commission 


tioii  of  the  provisions  to  be  presented  to  the  Legislature  and  of  char- 
ter amendments  to  be  submitted  to  the  voters  has  been  undertaken. 
The  definite  suggestions  of  the  Commission  as  to  the  needed  addi- 
tions to  the  municipal  powers  will  be  laid  before  the  Municipal  As- 
sembly. 

The  Commission  is  strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
the  city  authority  in  the  matter  of  acquisition  of  property  for  park 
and  boulevard  purposes  should  be  strengthened  and  should  be  more 
clearly  expressed.  The  Commission  believes  that  in  such  acquisition 
the  power  should  be  conferred  on  the  Municipal  Assembly  to  give  the 
property  owner  upon  whom  benefits  are  assessed  the  privilege  of 
meeting  such  assessments  in  installments,  distributed  through  such 
series  of  years  for  each  case  as  the  Assembly  in  its  judgment  may 
deem  just. 

The  Commission  urges  such  legislation  as  shall  divide  the  cost 
of  the  proposed  improvements  between  the  adjacent  property  own- 
ers and  the  whole  city  on  an  equitable  basis. 

In  entering  upon  the  practical  details  of  this  extensive  movement 
for  betterment  of  St.  Louis  the  Comniission  realizes  that  the  munici- 
pal government  will  proceed  more  expeditiously  and  with  greater 
satisfaction  to  property  owners  and  the  people  generally  if  the  legal 
basis  is  made  sure  and  the  interests  of  all  are  recognized  and  pro- 
tected in  the  legislation  suggested. 

Respectfully, 

C.  P.  WALBRIDGE,  Chairman. 
J.  H.  GUNDLACH, 
J.  H.  SOMMERICH, 
MAXIME  REBER, 
JAMES  C.  TRAVILLA, 
DWIGHT  M.  DAVIS, 
GEORGE  E.  KESSLER, 
HUGO  A.  KOEHLER, 
PHILIP  C.  SCANLAN, 
COLIN  M.  SELPH, 
CHAS.  A.  STIX, 
HARRY  B.  WALLACE, 
THOMAS  C.  YOUNG. 

WALTER  B.  STEVENS, 

Secretary. 

July  9,  1912. 

—  21  — 


PLATS  OF  BLOCKS  RECOMMENDED  FOR  CONDEMNATION. 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Thirteenth  street  (177'  8^4") 


Twelfth  street  (194') 
—  23  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Fourteenth  street  (160') 


Thirteenth  street  (160') 
—  24  — 


en 
H 
W 
W 

H 
H 

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H 

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H 

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u 


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Pi 

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Ph 

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W 
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en 

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The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Fifteenth  street  (160') 


$450 


$325 


$300 


$54,900 


$325 


$600 


Fourteenth  street  (160') 
—  25  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Sixteenth  street  (160') 


Fifteenth  street  (160') 
—  26  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Seventeenth  street  (160') 


Sixteenth  street  (160') 
—  27  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Eighteenth  street  (160') 


Seventeenth  street  (160') 
—  28  — 


a 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Nineteenth  street  (160') 


Eighteenth  street  (160') 
—  29  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Twentieth  street  (160') 


Nineteenth  street  (160') 
—  3«  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Twenty-first  street  (160') 


Twentieth  street  (160') 
—  •1  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Twenty-second  street  (160') 


$100 


$75 


$19,700 


$110 


Twenty-first  street  (160') 
—  32  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 

Twenty-third  street  (160') 


Twenty-second  street  (160') 
—  33  — 


The  amounts  on  corners  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  (for  taxes  of 
1912)  per  front  foot  of  ground  for  lots  of  25  feet  frontage.  The  amounts  in 
middle  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  valuations  per  front  foot  of  ground 
for  remainder  of  frontage. 

Amounts  in  center  of  blocks  indicate  the  assessor's  total  valuations  of 
improvements  on  that  portion  of  each  block  within  street  and  alley  lines 
shown. 


$47,600 


$68 


$125 


$34,000 


165 


$60 
$100 


Twenty-third  street  (160') 
—  34  — 


CHARTER  AMENDMENT 


ESTABLISHMENT 

OF 

PARKS  AND   PARKWAYS 


RECOMMENDED 
BY  THE 

City  Plan  Commission 


JANUARY,     1913 


City  Planning  has  been  defined  as 
"The  art  of  so  arranging  streets  and 
public  places  that  privately  owned  land 
may  be  put  to  its  best  use." 


CHARTER    AMENDMENT 


REPORT  OF  THE  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION, 
JANUARY  7,  1913. 

To  the  Honorable  Municipal  Assembly  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis — 
Gentleinen: 

Under  Ordinance  25,745,  approved  March  27,  1911,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  City  Plan  Commission  "To  suggest  the  state  and  municipal 
legislation  necessary  to  carry  out  the  recommendations  of  the  Com- 
mission. ' ' 

In  the  report  submitted  July  9,  1912,  to  the  Municipal  Assembly 
conclusions  of  the  Commission  upon  the  subject  of  necessary  legisla- 
tion were  stated  generally  as  follows : 

"The  Commission  is  strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
the  City  authority  in  the  matter  of  acquisition  of  property  for  park 
and  parkway  purposes  should  be  strengthened  and  should  be  more 
clearly  expressed.  The  Commission  believes  that  in  such  acquisition 
the  power  should  be  conferred  on  the  Municipal  Assembly  to  give  the 
property  owner  upon  whom  benefits  are  assessed  the  privilege  of 
meeting  such  assessments  in  instalments,  distributed  through  such 
series  of  years  for  each  case  as  the  Assembly  in  its  judgment  may 
deem  just. 

Division  of  Cost. 

"The  Commission  urges  such  legislation  as  shall  divide  the  cost 
of  the  proposed  improvements  between  the  adjacent  property  owners 
and  the  whole  city  on  an  equitable  basis. 

"In  entering  upon  the  practical  details  of  this  extensive  move- 
ment for  the  betterment  of  St.  Louis  the  Commission  realizes  that  the 
Municipal  government  will  proceed  more  expeditiously  and  with 
greater  satisfaction  to  property  owners  and  the  people  generally  if 
the  legal  basis  is  made  sure  and  the  interests  of  all  are  recognized  and 
protected  in  the  legislation  suggested. ' ' 

In  accordance  with  these  conclusions  the  City  Plan  Commission 
recommends  the  passage  of  an  ordinance  submitting  an  amendment 

—  3  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

to  the  charter  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis.  The  draft  of  this  ordinance 
prepared  by  the  City  Counselor  is  transmitted  herewith.  It  provides 
that  the  charter  shall  be  amended  by  adding  a  new  article  to  be 
kno\\Ti  as  Article  XVII. 

Consideration  of  the  proposed  amendment  was  undertaken  by 
the  City  Counselor  and  the  Law  and  Legislation  Committee  of  the 
City  Plan  Commission  immediately  following  the  submission  of  the 
report  on  the  Central  Traffic-Parkway  in  July  last.  The  provisions 
of  the  amendment  are  the  results  of  several  months  of  thorough  in- 
vestigation. The  experience  of  other  municipalities  has  been  sought. 
Decisions  of  the  courts,  especially  those  of  Missouri,  upon  questions 
involved,  have  been  consulted.  No  effort  has  been  spared  to  formu- 
late legal  and  equitable  methods  of  procedure. 

Purpose  of  the  Amendment. 

Article  XVII,  if  adopted,  will  in  the  judgment  of  the  City  Plan 
Commission  make  possible  the  gradual  development  of  a  system  of 
parks  and  parkways  reaching  every  section  of  the  city.  Such  a  sys- 
tem will  benefit  the  entire  population,  will  insure  stability  of  values 
in  both  business  and  residence  localities  and  will  redeem  those  dis- 
tricts where  depreciation  has  already  set  in. 

The  recommended  addition  to  the  charter  does  not  establish  any 
park  or  parkway.  It  confers  no  power  upon  the  City  Plan  Commis- 
sion. It  provides  the  method  whereby  St.  Louis,  through  the  present 
municipal  organization,  may  establish  a  complete  system  of  parks  and 
parkways  without  imposing  unjust  burdens  upon  the  municipality  or 
upon  the  individual  property  owners.  Recommendation  rests  with 
the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  and  legislation  must  come  from 
the  Municipal  Assembly. 

There  are  twenty-six  sections  in  the  Article.  Section  Nine  pro- 
vides for  the  equitable  division  of  cost  of  these  improvements  between 
the  City  generally  and  the  property  in  the  district  benefited.  Under 
this  section  the  jury  of  freeholders  "Shall  assess  against  the  City 
the  amount  of  benefits  to  the  public  generally,  inclusive  of  any  benefit 
to  the  property  of  the  City  within  the  benefit  district  defined,  exclu- 
sive of  public  highways,  and  shall  assess  the  remainder  against  each 
and  every  lot,  piece  and  parcel  of  private  property,  exclusive  of  build- 
ings and  improvements  thereon,  within  the  benefit  district,  if  any 
benefit  is  found  to  accrue  thereto."  This  is  one  of  the  essential 
features  of  the  article. 

—  4  — 


Keport  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

The  Instalment  Plan. 

Section  Fifteen  is  devoted  to  another  vital  feature.  ''Assess- 
ments shall  be  payable  in  one  instalment  or  in  such  number  of  instal- 
ments as  may  be  determined  by  the  Municipal  Assembly,  upon  the 
recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements,  such  determi- 
nation to  be  declared  in  the  ordinance  of  the  Municipal  Assembly 
under  which  said  proceedings  are  instituted. ' ' 

This  Section  provides  for  payment  of  benefits  by  instalments  dis- 
tributed through  a  series  of  years.  The  instalment  plan  has  been 
tried  out  in  other  cities  with  uniform  success.  Under  the  operation 
of  it  a  property  owner  can  at  any  time  take  advantage  of  increasing 
values  due  to  improvements  and  is  not  burdened  by  being  compelled 
to  pay  his  assessment  at  one  time.  Instalments  become  due  on  the 
30th  of  June  each  year,  but  may  be  paid  at  any  time  previously. 
They  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent  until  there  is  default 
when  the  rate  becomes  eight  per  cent. 

Duties  of  City  Officers. 

Sections  Sixteen  to  Twenty-two  prescribe  in  detail  the  powers  of 
the  Municipal  Assembly  and  the  duties  of  the  Comptroller  and  the 
Treasurer  in  the  issue  and  sale  of  park  fund  certificates  based  upon 
the  instalment  assessments.  These  certificates  are  so  safeguarded  that 
they  become  at  once  desirable  securities  for  trust  funds  and  readily 
command  par,  according  to  the  experience  of  other  cities.  By  the 
issue  and  sale  of  such  certificates  improvements  are  expedited  and  ad 
jacent  property  realizes  quickly  the  influence  of  such  improvements 
on  values. 

Section  Twenty-two  outlines  the  court  procedure  to  expedite  and 
consummate  the  possession  of  the  property  to  be  improved  l)y  the 
City. 

Parks  and  Parkways  Forever. 

Section  Twenty-three  provides  that  "The  lands  which  may  be 
selected  and  obtained  under  the  provisions  of  this  article  shall  remain 
forever  for  parks  and  parkways  for  the  use  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
said  City." 

By  Section  Twenty-four  the  City  pays  the  cost  of  proceedings 
under  the  Article. 

—  5  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

Section  Twenty-five  gives  the  Municipal  Assembly  power  by  ordi- 
nance recommended  by  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  to  regu- 
late traffic  on  all  parkways  and  provide  for  paving,  planting  of  trees 
and  shrubbery,  for  laying  out  of  traffic-ways  and  walks  on  all  park- 
ways. 

Sections  One  to  Nine  empower  the  Municipal  Assembly  to  pass 
ordinances  recommended  by  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  for 
the  establishment  of  parks  and  parkways,  and  set  forth  the  legal  pro- 
cedure for  hearings,  for  the  selection  of  juries  of  freeholders  to  de- 
termine values  and  benefits  and  for  appeals  from  the  findings  of  such 
juries. 

Evolution  of  Park  Benefits. 

Every  dweller  in  St.  Louis  is  entitled  to  have  park  benefits  within 
half  a  mile  of  his  domicile.  He  should  live  within  five  minutes  walk 
of  grass  and  trees.  A  generation  ago  the  park  was  the  luxury  of  the 
few.  It  was  the  breathing  spot  to  be  enjoyed  on  holidays  and  in 
hours  of  recreation.  The  park  of  the  present  is  a  daily  necessity  of 
urban  life.  It  is  frequented  now  by  the  many.  Its  uses  have  multi- 
plied rapidly.  They  are  not  limited  to  any  one  season  of  the  year. 
A  few  years  ago  the  parks  were  deserted  in  cold  weather.  Now  even 
in  midwinter  they  are  sought  for  outdoor  sports.  More  and  more 
the  city  dwellers  are  becoming  dependent  upon  parks  and  play- 
grounds. And  more  and  more  these  provisions  are  becoming  essential 
utilities  for  the  moral,  as  well  as  the  physical  well-being  of  the  com- 
munity. They  rightly  include  those  facilities  and  encouragements  to 
physical  exercise  without  which  our  city's  population  must  inevitably 
degenerate.  They  contribute  through  bath  houses  and  bathing  pools 
not  a  little  to  good  health. 

Unequal  Park  Distribution. 

St.  Louis  has  over  sixty  square  miles  of  territory  and  less  than 
five  miles  of  parks  and  playgrounds.  Of  the  forty-six  tracts,  great 
and  small,  which  constitute  the  park  area  of  St.  Louis,  only  fifteen 
were  purchased  by  the  City.  The  other  triangles,  squares,  places, 
playgrounds  and  parks  were  gifts  or  were  reserved  at  no  cost  from 
the  City  Commons. 

Of  the  2,740  acres  of  park  area  possessed  by  St.  Louis  less  than 
150  acres  lies  east  of  Grand  avenue.  With  the  comparatively  recent 
acquisitions  the  western  part  of  St.  Louis,  when  connecting  parkways 


Eeport  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

shall  have  been  established,  will  be  fairly  well  provided  with  park 
benefits.  But  much  more  is  due  the  250,000  people  who  live  east  of 
Grand  avenue  and  between  the  small  parks  of  North  and  South  St. 
Louis.  The  needs  of  the  great  central  district  of  the  city  are  press- 
ing. Eecent  purchases  and  development  of  half  a  dozen  playgrounds 
have  served  to  show  these  needs  in  strong  light. 

A  Southwest  Athletic  Field. 

The  transformation  of  Fairground  into  a  great  athletic  field,  with 
its  swimming  pools  in  summer  and  skating  ponds  in  winter,  its  tennis 
courts  and  baseball  diamonds,  its  running  tracks  and  other  facilities 
prompts  at  once  the  suggestion  that  the  southwestern  part  of  the  City 
should  have  at  the  earliest  practicable  date  an  athletic  field  of  like 
generous  proportions  and  intelligent  development,  somewhere  near 
Grand  avenue  and  between  Tower  Grove  and  Carondelet  parks.  To  a 
river  front  park  the  sentiment  of  the  City  is  strongly  committed. 
Three  radial  traffic-parkways  should  be  opened  from  Twelfth  street 
plaza,  one  northwest  to  Fairground  and  0  'Fallon  park,  another  west 
to  Grand  avenue  to  connect  with  Lindell,  West  Pine  and  Forest  Park 
boulevards,  and  a  third  southwest  from  Twelfth  street  to  a  great 
athletic  field  on  Grand  avenue  and  thence  to  the  city  limits. 

Fairground  Object  Lesson. 

An  object  lesson  in  the  material  benefits  which  rapidly  follow 
such  improvements  as  these  is  offered  St.  Louis  in  the  Fairground 
experience.  That  tract  of  129  acres  was  purchased  four  years  ago 
by  the  City  for  $700,000.  The  transformation  of  Fairground  into  a 
park  has  been  attended  by  a  very  considerable  advance  in  values  of 
property,  the  influence  being  felt  a  distance  of  several  blocks.  These 
increases  range  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent.  The  district  af- 
fected by  the  establishment  of  this  park  was  occupied  previous  to  the 
change  in  part  by  moderate  and  even  low  priced  improvements. 
There  was  much  ground  entirely  vacant.  Since  the  transformation 
to  park  uses  much  of  the  vacant  ground  has  been  built  over  by  a  class 
of  improvements  far  better  than  the  previous  average.  Upon  one 
block  fronting  this  new  park  there  has  been  expended  the  current 
season  $100,000  in  improvements.  In  the  opinion  of  experts  the  in- 
crease of  values  to  real  estate  attributable  to  the  establishment  of  this 
park  will  in  a  few  years  fully  reimburse  the  City  for  the  cost  of  the 
acquisition. 

—  7  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

The  Beginning. 

A  generation  may  be  required  to  work  out  such  comprehensive 
plans  for  parks  and  parkways  as  have  been  indicated  in  this  report, 
but  present  conditions  encourage  the  beginning.  The  passage  of  the 
ordinance  herewith  recommended  will  be  a  step  forward. 

Respectfully, 

C.  P.  WALBRIDGE,  Chairman. 
J.  H.  GUNDLACH, 
J.  H.  SOMMERICH, 
MAXIME  REBER, 
JAMES  C.  TRAVILLA, 
DWIGHT  F.  DAVIS, 
GEORGE  E.  KESSLER. 
HUGO  A.  KOEHLER. 
COLIN  M.  SELPH, 
CHAS.  A.  STIX, 
HARRY  B.  WALLACE. 
THOMAS  C.  YOUNG. 
WALTER  B.  STEVENS, 

Secretary. 

January  7,  1913. 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 


HEARINGS  OF  THE  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

BEFORE  LEGISLATION  COMMITTEES 

OF  THE  MUNICIPAL  ASSEMBLY 

Remarks  by  Chairman  Walbridge. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  well  enough  to  start  with  the  foundation  of 
the  Commission.  Doubtless  you  are  all  familiar  in  a  general  way 
with  it,  but  1  would  like  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
Commission  is  an  official  body  of  St.  Louis.  It  is  not  a  volunteer 
body.  It  is  organized  under  Ordinance  25,745,  which  authorizes  the 
appointment  of  the  Commission.  The  President  of  the  City  Council, 
Speaker  of  the  House,  President  of  the  Board  of  Public  Improve- 
ments, Street  Commissioner,  Park  Commissioner  and  Commissioner 
of  Public  Buildings  are  ex-offieio  members.  Nine  citizens  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Mayor  in  addition  to  these  ex-officio  members. 

The  Commission  is  a  part  of  the  municipal  machinery  with  pow- 
ers only  to  recommend.  We  were  appointed  and  directed  by  the 
Municipal  Assembly  to  investigate  certain  things  which  can  be  done 
for  St.  Louis  to  make  it  a  better  place  in  which  to  live  and  to  make  it 
more  prosperous.  The  Commission  is  authorized  to  look  into  and  in- 
vestigate everything  with  reference  to  railroads,  parks,  boulevards, 
making  of  new  streets,  and  laying  out  of  subdivisions.  Under  the 
ordinance  the  Commission  is  requested  to  investigate  practically  any- 
thing that  can  be  of  interest  to  the  citizens  at  large.  We  have  been 
organized  about  a  year  and  a  half.  We  have  not  done  much  that 
shows  on  the  surface,  but  that  does  not  mean  that  we  have  been  idle. 
To  form  a  plan  as  this  ordinance  directs — to  form  a  plan  for  the  fu- 
ture development  of  St.  Louis  in  its  business,  in  its  parks,  in  its 
boulevards,  transportation  system,  etc. — is  too  big  a  job  to  be  done 
rapidly.  But  we  have  not  been  idle.  We  have  been  making  a  good 
deal  of  investigation  in  other  cities.  We  have  had  many  consulta- 
tions ;  have  made  many  trips  about  the  City  for  investigation,  and  we 
finally  have  come  to  a  point  where  we  are  ready  to  make  a  definite 
recommendation,  not  for  the  general  plan,  Mr.  Chairman,  but  for  a 
part  of  a  plan  which  will  fit  into  any  general  plan  which  may  ulti- 
mately adopted.  But  before  we  can  carry  this  into  effect,  this  plan,— 
as  recommended  in  this  report  to  the  Municipal  Assembly  for  the 
opening  of  this  parkway  between  Market  and  Chestnut  streets,  and 

—  9  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

from  Twelfth  street  to  Jefferson  avenue, — we  find  that  before  that 
can  be  carried  into  effect  there  must  be  a  change  in  the  organic  law ; 
that  is,  in  the  charter  affecting  the  assessment  of  property  and  the 
assessment  of  damages  and  benefits.  So  this  ordinance  has  been  pre- 
pared asking  the  Municipal  Assembly  to  submit  to  the  people  an 
amendment  to  the  charter  giving  this  power  to  the  City.  The  ordi- 
nance was  drafted  by  City  Counselor  Walther,  who,  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Pearcy,  his  assistant,  spent  not  weeks,  but  months  investi- 
gating the  work  in  other  cities,  studying  our  own  conditions,  to  work 
out  an  amendment  which  as  far  as  possible  will  meet  every  contin- 
gency and  fairly  protect  every  citizen. 

Now,  the  substance  of  this  amendment  is  to  empower  the  City  to 
assess  by  districts.  If  this  ordinance  passes  and  the  amendment  is 
adopted  by  the  people,  the  Municipal  Assembly  will  have  the  power 
to  lay  out  a  district  which  will  be  more  or  less  benefited  by  this 
change,  and  the  assessment  will  cover  the  entire  district.  The  Mu- 
nicipal Assembly  will  have  the  power  to  say  that  a  certain  portion  of 
this  expense  shall  be  charged  to  the  City  direct  on  the  theory  that 
the  entire  City  and  every  person  in  it  will  be  benefited  some  by  this 
change  and  that  a  certain  district  will  be  more  immediately  benefited. 
That  is  one  important  change.  Another  is,  the  Municipal  Assembly 
may  provide  that  the  special  taxes  shall  be  paid  or  may  be  paid  in 
instalments  instead  of  at  one  time.  The  number  of  instalments  shall 
be  determined  by  the  Assembly.  This  charter  amendment  simply 
gives  the  Municipal  Assembly  the  power  to  make  that  provision.  The 
number  of  instalments  and  the  amount  of  each  instalment  and  all 
the  details  are  to  be  worked  out  by  the  Municipal  Assembly  in  each 
case.  Under  the  present  city  charter  you  haven't  the  power  to  do 
that.     That  is  the  substance  of  the  change. 

The  amendment  is  very  long.  It  is  objected  to  by  some  members 
of  the  Commission  because  of  its  length.  In  old  times  we  used  to 
think  that  the  constitution  or  a  charter  of  a  city — that  is,  the  funda- 
mental law,  the  organic  law — need  only  to  say  enough  to  indicate  the 
powers  conferred  upon  the  legislative  departments.  Now  we  could 
have  done  that  in  two  short  paragraphs,  but  you  know  conditions  are 
changing  and  the  people  are  demanding  the  organic  law  shall  go  more 
into  details  as  to  all  matters.  This  proposed  amendment  goes  into 
almost  every  detail,  explaining  how  the  assessments  shall  be  made  and 
how  the  payments  shall  be  made.  The  effort  has  been  to  place  before 
the  citizens  everything  which  can  be  of  interest  to  them  so  that  they 
may  know  what  are  their  rights  under  the  amendment. 

—  10  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

Another  change  that  this  amendment  makes  in  the  law  is  the 
method  of  assessing  benefits.  In  condemnation  of  damages,  under  the 
present  system,  a  commission  is  appointed  by  the  Circuit  Court,  and 
the  commissioners  meet  as  they  please  and  take  evidence  as  they 
please  and  make  a  report  to  the  Circuit  Court.  The  Circuit  Court 
may  confirm  the  findings  or  reject  the  findings,  but  during  the  inves- 
tigation the  Commission  is  free  to  do  as  it  pleases.  Under  the  pro- 
posed system  the  assessments  of  benefits  and  damages  are  made  by 
jury.  A  jury  is  impaneled  by  the  Circuit  Court,  not  from  the  box 
as  juries  are  usually  impaneled,  but  the  Circuit  Court  appoints  a  jury 
of  six  men.  This  jury  sits  as  any  other  jury  does  in  the  presence  of 
the  Court  and  under  the  Court's  supervision  and  takes  sworn  testi- 
mony. Anyone  can  testify  before  this  jury.  The  sworn  witnesses 
appear  before  it  and  the  testimony  is  taken  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Court.  Then  the  jury  comes  together  and  finds  a  verdict;  the 
verdict  must  be  unanimous.  Now,  that  in  substance  is  what  we  are 
asking  you  to  place  before  the  people  for  their  votes. 

Remarks  by  Mr.  Stix. 

Very  frequently  I  go  east  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  people  to 
come  here  to  take  charge  of  work  at  my  store  and  I  find  it  of  the 
greatest  difiiculty  to  get  people  to  come  here  on  account  of  the  repu- 
tation St.  Louis  has  of  not  being  as  livable  as  a  good  many  other 
places  in  this  country.  And  I  regret  to  say  that  when  I  look  out  of 
this  window,  for  instance,  I  think  the  people  are  justified  in  feeling 
that  St.  Louis  is  not  a  town  in  which  one  wants  to  live  if  obliged  to 
live  in  this  part  of  it. 

In  the  report  to  the  Municipal  Assembly  is  one  thing  which  I 
think  is  of  the  greatest  importance.  That  is  the  statement  of  the 
very  small  amount  of  the  park  system  of  St.  Louis  east  of  Grand 
avenue,  although  quite  a  large  percentage  of  the  people  live  east  of 
Grand  avenue.  The  West  End  of  St.  Louis,  where  the  more  wealthy 
people  live,  does  not  require  so  much  of  these  park  benefits,  although 
the  City  has  been  very  generous  in  giving  parks  to  that  section.  The 
East  End  of  the  city,  where  live  the  people  to  w^hom  a  five-cent  car 
fare  is  a  very  considerable  sum  of  money  to  pay  out  for  any  enjoy- 
ment, is  limited  in  the  park  advantages  which  are  given  so  freely  to 
the  West  End.  The  energy  of  the  City  Plan  Commission  has  been 
concentrated  in  giving  parks  east  of  Grand  avenue.  Beautify  east  of 
Grand  avenue !  If  there  is  anything  that  will  help  to  make  the  City 
more  livable  it  is  certainly  in  the  extension  of  the  park  benefits  east- 


Report  Recommendixg  Charter  Amendment 

ward.  Under  the  present  charter  we  are  confronted  with  a  practical 
handicap.  The  taxes  under  this  proposed  amendment  will  be  assessed 
more  equitably  than  under  the  present  law. 

(To  an  inquiry  as  to  effect  of  parks  and  parkways  on  values.) 
All  I  can  say  is  that  if  I  had  a  piece  of  property  on  Pine  street  to- 
day and  I  knew  there  would  be  no  park  coming  that  way  I  would  be 
anxious  to  sell,  while  I  would  hold  it  for  a  considerably  increased 
price  if  I  knew  a  park  was  to  be  put  there,  and  I  think  every  other 
real  estate  man  would  do  the  same  thing.  This  part  of  our  City 
across  the  street  and  running  westward  is  certainly  retrograding  in 
value.  I  do  not  think  it  is  going  to  be  used  for  retail  store  purposes 
if  we  create  a  parkway,  but  it  will  be  used  for  a  great  many  other 
purposes — hotels  and  large  buildings  of  all  kinds.  One  thing  I  do 
know,  the  moment  it  was  published  in  the  papers  that  we  were  ad- 
vising this  improvement,  every  owner  in  the  district  which  would  be 
affected,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  immediately  advanced  the  price 
on  his  holding.  It  seems  to  be  the  consensus  of  opinion  that  the  pro- 
posed parkway  will  improve  that  property.  Speaking  as  a  man  at 
the  head  of  a  large  retail  store,  my  property  will  be  of  greater  value 
for  this  reason:  The  moment  you  make  the  City  more  livable  more 
people  will  come  here,  and  I  would  rather  have  my  place  in  a  city  of 
a  million  inhabitants  than  in  a  city  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  Every  piece  of  property  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis 
will  advance  for  the  saine  reason.  "Wherever  you  have  parks  in  the 
City  of  St.  Louis  have  they  not  increased  the  values  of  the  property 
immediately  around  them  ? 

Remarks  by  Park  Commissioner  Davis. 

There  was  an  interesting  statement  in  the  Kansas  City  Park  re- 
port about  a  year  ago  that  I  would  be  very  glad  to  send  down.  It 
relates  to  the  effect  of  such  improvements  on  private  property.  The 
officials  made  a  comparison  of  the  assessed  valuations  of  properties 
abutting  on  a  certain  boulevard  in  1900,  and  again  in  1910.  Then 
they  took  the  assessed  valuations  of  property  in  that  same  district, 
subject  to  the  same  general  causes  but  not  abutting  on  the  boulevard 
and  not  getting  the  benefits  of  the  improvements.  They  found  that 
this  property  abutting  on  the  boulevard,  even  after  paying  the  entire 
expense  of  building,  laying  out  and  maintaining  it  for  ten  years,  had 
increased  in  value  43%  more  than  the  other  property  in  the  same  dis- 
trict which  was  not  on  the  boulevard.     I  believe  that  is  the  best  argu- 

—  12  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

ment  in  favor  of  a  scheme  of  tbis  sort,  Mr.  Chairman,  especially  as 
that  is  the  experience  of  other  cities. 

About  a  year  ago  I  went  to  Kansas  City  to  see  their  general  sys- 
tem and  incidentally  to  talk  with  them  about  their  parks  and  boule- 
vards. Kansas  City  has  developed  a  beautiful  parkway  and  boule- 
vard system,  and  it  has  been,  I  think,  the  greatest  advertising  that 
Kansas  City  has  had.  When  Kansas  City  started  in  to  build  the  sys- 
tem the  people  were  rather  opposed  to  it.  They  did  not  want  to  pay 
for  the  improvements  because  they  did  not  realize  the  value.  But 
now,  as  soon  as  a  parkway  is  suggested  through  any  district,  the  prop- 
erty owners  come  in  and  clamor  for  it  to  be  put  in  front  of  their 
properties  even  if  they  have  to  pay  for  it,  because  they  know  they  are 
going  to  get  the  benefit.  "What  we  recommend  in  this  amendment  is 
carrying  out  the  same  method  which  we  have  for  street  and  sewer  im- 
provements, but  which  we  have  not  for  parks  and  parkways.  All  of 
these  plans  will  be  helped  by  this  amendment ;  it  does  not  apply  en- 
tirely to  this  one  improvement  which  has  been  suggested.  It  applies 
to  parks  and  parkways  all  over  the  City. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  St.  Louis  is  falling  back  very  fast  as  re- 
gards parks  and  playgrounds.  For  example,  in  the  last  five  years 
the  City  of  Chicago,  which  has  a  somewhat  similar  law,  has  spent 
over  $10,000,000  on  parks  and  boulevards,  whereas  the  City  of  St. 
Louis  has  spent  $670,000.  Kansas  City  has  spent  more  money  today, 
although  it  is  not  nearly  the  size  of  St.  Louis  and  has  not  nearly  the 
population,  and  the  people  there  are  spending  more  money  on  their 
parks  and  boulevards  than  St.  Louis  is  spending,  because  we  are  ab- 
solutely dependent  upon  municipal  revenue  to  do  our  work.  This 
city  is  falling  very  far  behind  in  all  of  these  betterments. 

Now,  as  to  the  proposed  river  front  and  new  downtown  parks, 
they  are  very  badly  needed.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  carry  out 
plans  for  them  unless  we  have  some  such  method  as  this  or  unless  we 
have  enormous  bond  issues.  The  latter  we  cannot  get.  St.  Louis 
can  not  buj-  out  of  the  municipal  revenue  parks  in  the  downtoAvn  dis- 
tricts where  they  cost  a  good  deal  of  money.  We  have  not  money 
enough  even  to  carry  on  the  existing  parks  at  the  present  time.  We 
must  have  some  legislation  like  this.  The  provisions  recommended 
have  worked  in  other  cities.  Unless  we  do  something  we  are  going  to 
fall  farther  behind  than  we  are  today.  I  think  if  you  will  examine 
the  results  in  other  cities  you  will  note  the  progress  that  has  been 
made  and  see  how  we  are  falling  behind,  and  you  will  realize  just  how 
much  the  proposed  amendment  is  needed  for  St.  Louis. 

—  13  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 


CHARTER   AMENDMENT 

RECOMMENDED  BY  THE  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

Establishment  of  Parks  and  Parkways. 

Section  1.  The  Municipal  Assembly  may,  by  ordinance  recom- 
mended by  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements,  select  and  designate 
lands  to  be  used,  appropriated  or  purchased  for  the  purpose  of  parks 
or  parkways,  within  or  without  the  City  limits,  or  the  widening  of 
parkways,  and  lease,  purchase,  condemn  or  otherwise  acquire,  in  tho 
name  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis,  lands  for  such  parks  or  parkways,  or 
the  widening  of  parkways,  and  establish,  change  or  re-establish  the 
grade  of  any  parkway,  and  when  the  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the 
establishment  of  any  park  or  parkway  within  the  City,  it  shall  name 
and  designate  the  boundary  lines  thereof,  and  any  public  street  or 
streets,  or  portion  or  portions  thereof  within  the  boundary  thereof  so 
determined,  shall  be  and  become  a  part  of  such  park  or  parkway  to 
be  established. 

Plans  of  Payment. 

Section  2.  Payment  for  any  such  lands  selected  and  acquired, 
whether  within  or  without  the  City  limits,  may  be  made  out  of  the 
general  revenue  fund  or  by  the  issue  and  sale  of  bonds  of  the  City 
as  may  be  provided  by  ordinance  of  the  Municipal  Assembly,  subject 
to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  or  payment  for  land  so 
selected  and  acquired  for  such  purposes  within  the  City  limits  may  be 
made  as  hereinafted  provided. 

Section  3,  The  parks  and  parkways  established  within  the  City 
limits,  acquired  by  condemnation,  may  be  paid  for  by  special  assess- 
ment upon  the  real  estate  situated  within  the  district  in  the  City 
which  shall  be  established  by  ordinance  of  the  Municipal  Assembly 
as  hereinafter  provided.  Such  special  assessments  may  be  made  pay- 
able in  such  manner  and  in  such  time  or  times  as  may  be  provided  by 
ordinance  of  the  Municipal  Assembly. 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

Municipal  Assembly's  Powers. 

Section  4.  The  Municipal  Assembly  may,  upon  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements,  provide  by  ordinance  for 
the  condemnation  of  any  real  estate  necessary  to  be  taken  or  dam- 
aged for  any  park  or  parkway  established  by  ordinance  as  herein- 
above provided ;  and  in  said  ordinance  shall  describe  the  private  prop- 
erty to  be  taken  or  damaged,  and  in  case  the  same  is  to  be  paid  for 
by  special  assessments  upon  real  estate,  shall  designate  the  time  and 
mode  of  payment  of  such  assessments,  and  shall  also  prescribe  the 
limits  within  which  private  property  shall  be  deemed  benefited  by  the 
proposed  improvement,  and  be  assessed  and  charged  to  pay  compen- 
sation therefor.  And  in  said  ordinance  separate  descriptions  of  each 
piece  or  parcel  of  property  shall  not  be  required,  but  it  shall  be  suf- 
ficient description  of  the  property  to  be  taken  or  damaged  to  give  a 
description  of  the  entire  tract  by  metes  and  bounds,  whether  the  same 
be  composed  of  one  or  more  piece  or  parcel.  Thereupon  the  Street 
Commissioner  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis  shall  make  out  and  deliver  to 
the  City  Counselor  a  statement  by  map,  plat  or  otherwise,  containing 
a  correct  description  of  the  several  lots  or  parcels  of  private  property 
to  be  taken  or  damaged,  and  containing  also  the  names  of  the  owners, 
so  far  as  known,  of  such  lots  or  parcels  of  land  to  be  taken  or  dam- 
aged, or  of  any  estate  or  interest  therein,  who  may  be  such  at  the 
time  of  the  taking  effect  of  the  ordinance  providing  for  the  taking 
or  damaging  of  such  private  property.  The  proceeding  for  the  taking 
or  damaging  of  such  private  property  for  public  use  as  herein  pro- 
vided, and  the  assessment  of  benefits  to  pay  for  the  property  so  taken 
or  damaged,  if  the  same  is  to  be  paid  for  by  special  assessment  upon 
real  estate,  shall  be  heard  and  determined  by  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
Eighth  Judicial  Circuit  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

In  the  Circuit  Court. 

Section  5.  The  City  Counselor  on  behalf  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis 
shall  file  or  cause  to  be  filed  a  certified  copy  of  such  ordinance  re- 
ferred to  in  the  preceding  section  in  the  Circuit  Court,  or  with  the 
clerk  thereof.  Such  Court  shall  thereupon,  and  upon  application  of 
the  City,  make  an  order  appointing  a  day  and  place  for  impaneling 
a  jury  to  ascertain  the  compensation  for  the  property  taken  or  dam- 
aged, and  if  the  same  is  to  be  paid  for  by  special  assessments  upon 
real  estate,  to  make  assessments  to  pay  for  the  property  to  be  taken 
or  damaged,  as  the  same  may  be,  which  order  shall  recite  such  ordi- 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

nance  or  the  substance  thereof,  and  shall  be  directed  to  all  persons 
whom  it  may  concern,  without  naming  them,  notifying  them  of  the 
day  and  place  fixed  for  the  impaneling  of  a  jury,  and  for  the  ascer- 
tainment of  the  compensation  to  be  paid  for  the  property  to  be  taken 
or  damaged,  and  the  amount  of  benefits,  if  any,  to  be  assessed  to  pay 
therefor. 

Publication. 

A  copy  of  such  order  shall  be  published  daily  in  the  newspapers 
at  the  time  doing  the  City  printing,  for  four  successive  weeks,  the 
last  insertion  to  be  not  more  than  one  week  prior  to  the  date  so  fixed 
for  said  hearing.  The  Court  may  at  the  time  of  making  such  order, 
or  at  any  time  before  the  hearing,  further  order  that  the  parties 
owning  or  having  an  interest  in  the  real  estate  proposed  to  be  taken 
or  damaged  be  served  with  a  copy  of  said  order  either  by  delivering 
to  each  of  said  owners  or  parties  interested  at  any  time  before  the 
date  fixed  therein  for  a  hearing,  a  copy  of  the  order,  or  by  leaving 
such  copy  at  the  usual  place  of  abode  with  some  member  of  his  family 
over  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  and  in  case  of  a  corporation,  by  deliv- 
ering a  copy  to  the  president,  secretary  or  some  managing  officer 
thereof,  or  to  any  agent  of  said  corporation  in  charge  of  any  office 
or  place  of  business  of  such  corporation. 

Service  on  Parties  Interested. 

If  service  of  such  notice  cannot  be  made  on  any  or  all  of  such 
parties  as  above  described  within  said  City,  when  personal  service  is 
ordered  by  said  Court,  the  return  on  such  notice  shall  so  state,  and 
thereupon  an  alias  order  specifying  a  different  date  may  be  made  by 
said  Court,  if  deemed  advisable,  notifying  such  unserved  parties  of 
the  fact  as  in  case  of  the  original  notice  above  provided.  Said  cause 
may  be  continued  or  postponed  from  time  to  time  as  in  civil  cases  in 
said  Court.  It  shall  not  be  required  in  any  case  to  bring  in  any  per- 
sons other  than  the  owners  of  the  property,  or  those  interested  there- 
in, who  were  such  at  the  time  of  the  taking  effect  of  such  ordinance, 
and  the  parties  claiming  or  holding  through  or  under  such  owners 
or  parties  interested,  or  any  of  them,  shall  be  bound  by  the  proceed 
ings  as  fully  as  if  they  were  brought  in.  But  any  person  having  an 
interest  in  the  real  estate  to  be  affected  by  said  proceedings,  may, 
upon  application  and  entering  their  appearance,  be  made  parties 
thereto,  but  no  notice  of  such  proceedings  shall  in  any  case  be  neces- 
sary to  the  validity  thereof,  except  the  publication  of  the  order  as 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

herein  provided.  Notice  so  given  by  publication  shall  be  sufficient  to 
authorize  the  court  to  hear  and  determine  the  cause,  and  to  make  any- 
finding  or  order  or  render  any  judgment  therein  as  fully  as  though 
all  parties  interested  at  the  time  of  the  taking  effect  of  such  ordinance, 
or  at  any  time  thereafter,  had  been  sued  by  their  proper  names,  and 
had  been  personally  served. 

Affidavit  by  the  publisher,  manager  or  any  person  connected  with 
the  newspapers  in  which  said  notice  was  published,  accompanied  with 
the  printed  copy  of  the  notice,  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the 
publication  of  such  order  as  herein  required.  The  service  of  such 
notice  or  order  when  so  ordered  by  the  Court  may  be  made  by  the 
City  Marshal,  or  other  officer  authorized  to  serve  judicial  writs,  and 
any  return  of  such  Marshal  or  other  officer  shall  be  evidence  of  the 
facts  therein  stated. 

Incorporated  Companies. 

Section  6.  If  any  incorporated  company  which  may  be  inter- 
ested in  the  whole  or  in  any  part  of  the  land  to  be  taken  or  damaged 
by  said  proceedings,  be  entitled  by  law  to  trial  of  its  claim  for  com- 
pensation therefor  by  a  common-law  jury,  it  may  at  any  time  prior 
to  the  day  fixed  as  herein  provided  for  impaneling  a  jury,  file  in  the 
office  of  the  Clerk  of  said  Court  a  petition  in  which  it  shall  state  the 
description  of  the  property  owned  or  claimed  by  it  so  to  be  taken  or 
damaged,  and  the  amount  and  nature  of  its  claim  therefor,  and  may 
further  state  that  it  demands  a  trial  before  a  common-law  jury  of  its 
claim  for  compensation  therefor,  and  if  any  such  incorporated  com- 
pany shall  not  so  file  such  petition  before  such  date,  it  shall  be 
deemed  and  taken  to  have  waived  its  right  of  trial  by  a  common-law 
jury  as  aforesaid,  of  such  issue.  And  if  any  incorporated  company, 
which  may,  under  the  law  of  the  land,  be  entitled  to  a  trial  by  a  com- 
mon-law jury  as  aforesaid,  shall  file  such  petition,  then  the  Court 
shall  cause  said  jury  to  be  impaneled  for  the  trial  of  such  claim,  and 
the  issues  to  be  tried  by  such  jury  shall  be  the  actual  value  of  the 
land  and  premises  proposed  to  be  taken  without  reference  to  the  pro- 
jected improvement,  and  to  ascertain  the  actual  damages  done  to  the 
property  thereby,  including  all  that  the  City  may  from  time  to  time 
do  or  cause  to  be  done  with  or  upon  the  private  property  so  taken  or 
damaged.  If  any  incorporated  company  interested  in  land  to  be 
taken  or  damaged  as  aforesaid  be  entitled  to  trial  by  a  common-law 
jury  as  aforesaid,  and  shall  make  demand  therefore  as  aforesaid,  said 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

cause  or  further  proceedings  in  the  same  shall  be  continued  from  time 
to  time  by  the  Court  until  such  issue  or  issues  shall  have  been  deter- 
mined by  the  verdict  of  said  jury : 

Methods  of  Protest. 

Provided,  that  any  party  to  any  such  issue  who  may  feel  ag- 
grieved by  the  verdict  of  such  jury  may,  within  four  days  after  the 
rendition  of  the  same,  file  a  motion  for  a  new  trial  and  in  arrest  of 
judgment,  and  said  motion  or  motions  shall  be  heard  without  delay, 
and  after  hearing  the  same  the  Court  may  overrule  the  same  or  may 
order  a  new  trial  of  such  issue  or  issues  on  good  cause  shown,  but  no 
appeal  from  the  judgment  of  the  Court  overruling  such  motion  shall 
be  had  therein  until  the  final  judgment  and  confirmation  of  the  entire 
proceeding  by  said  Court  as  hereinafter  provided. 

After  the  rendition  of  the  verdict  of  such  common-law  jury,  and 
after  the  hearing  of  the  exceptions  thereto  on  the  motion  for  a  new 
trial  or  in  arrest  of  judgment,  if  any  there  be,  or  if  no  such  jury  trial 
be  demanded,  then  upon  the  day  fixed  by  the  order  and  notice  afore- 
said for  impaneling  a  jury,  or  upon  any  day  thereafter  to  which  said 
cause  may  have  been  continued  as  aforesaid,  the  Court  shall  impanel 
a  jury  of  six  freeholders  and  the  cause  shall  proceed  before  such  jury 
of  freeholders  impaneled  to  try  the  same  as  set  forth  in  the  next  suc- 
ceeding section. 

Jury  of  Six  Freeholders. 

Section  7.  Said  Court,  upon  the  day  fixed  therefor,  or  upon 
some  subsequent  day  to  which  said  cause  may  have  been  continued, 
shall  appoint  a  jury  of  six  freeholders  of  the  City,  who  shall  not  be 
interested  in  the  property  to  be  taken  or  damaged,  who  shall  receive 
the  same  compensation  as  other  jurors  in  said  Court,  and  said  jurors 
upon  entering  upon  their  duties  as  such  shall  make  oath  before  the 
Clerk  of  the  Court  that  they  will  faithfully  and  impartially  ascertain 
the  actual  damages  or  just  compensation  to  be  paid,  as  to  each  tract 
of  land  separately,  as  well  as  the  benefits,  if  any,  to  be  assessed  under 
such  instructions  as  shall,  after  the  evidence  has  been  heard,  be  given 
to  them  by  the  Court,  and  if  there  shall  be  minors,  incompetents  or 
any  other  person  under  guardianship  interested  in  any  of  the  lands 
to  be  taken  or  damaged,  or  lands  to  be  assessed,  such  persons  may  ap- 
pear by  their  guardians,  or  the  Court  may,  upon  application,  appoint 
guardians  ad  litem,  who  may  appear  in  their  behalf,  but  the  failure 
of  any  such  persons  to  so  appear  or  be  represented  by  guardians  ad 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

litem,  as  aforesaid,  shall  not  in  any  manner  affect  the  validity  of  the 
proceedings.  The  parties  interested  may  submit  evidence  to  said  jury 
of  freeholders  and  such  jury  may  examine  personally  each  piece  of 
property  described  on  such  map  or  plat  furnished  as  aforesaid  by  the 
Street  Commissioner,  or  his  assistants,  to  the  City  Counselor,  and  all 
property  claimed  to  be  damaged,  and  such  jury  may  examine  person- 
ally the  property,  if  any,  to  be  assessed  with  benefits,  and  the  Street 
Commissioner,  or  any  assistant  in  his  office,  may  accompany  such  jury 
for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  the  property  aforesaid,  and  the  Court 
may  continue  the  proceedings  from  day  to  day,  or  adjourn  to  a  future 
day.  The  party  owning  any  property  taken  may  remove  any  im- 
provements thereon,  and  if  he  elect  so  to  do,  that  fact  shall  be  taken 
into  consideration  by  the  jury  in  assessing  damages ;  such  party  own- 
ing property  taken  or  damaged,  however,  shall  make  his  election  in 
open  Court  at  the  time  of  trial  and  before  evidence  is  introduced,  as 
to  whether  or  not  such  owner  desires  to  remove  the  improvements  or 
not,  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury  shall  specify  upon  which  theory  the 
damages  are  found. 

Duties  of  the  Jury. 

Section  8.  The  jury  shall  ascertain  the  just  compensation  to  be 
paid  as  follows :  First  to  ascertain  the  actual  value  of  the  land  and 
premises  proposed  to  be  taken  without  reference  to  the  projected  im- 
provement, and  then  to  ascertain  the  actual  damage  done  to  the  prop- 
erty thereby,  provided,  that  in  case  any  claim  for  compensation  shall 
have  been  tried  and  ascertained  by  a  common-law  jury  as  provided 
in  Section  6  of  this  Article,  any  jury  of  freeholders  in  said  proceed- 
ing shall  accept  and  adopt  the  valuation  or  assessment  of  damages  for 
the  land  taken  or  damaged  as  assessed  by  said  common-law  jury,  and 
shall  so  recite  the  same  in  and  as  part  of  any  verdict  therefor  ren- 
dered by  any  such  jury  of  freeholders. 

Section  9.  If  the  land  to  be  taken  or  damaged,  as  aforesaid,  is 
to  be  paid  for  by  the  assessment  of  benefits  upon  real  estate,  the  jury 
of  freeholders,  to  pay  the  compensation  for  the  land  taken  or  dam- 
aged, shall  assess  against  the  City  the  amount  of  benefit  to  the  public 
generally,  inclusive  of  any  benefit  to  the  property  of  the  City  within 
the  benefit  district  defined  exclusive  of  public  highways,  and  shall 
assess  the  remainder  against  each  and  every  lot,  piece  and  parcel  of 
private  property,  exclusive  of  the  buildings  and  improvements  there- 
on, within  the  benefit  district,  if  any  benefit  is  found  to  accrue  thereto. 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

Form  of  Verdict. 

Section  10.  The  jury  of  freeholders  shall  render  a  verdict  which 
shall  show: 

1st.  A  correct  description  of  each  piece  or  parcel  of  private  prop- 
erty taken,  and  of  each  piece  or  parcel  of  private  property  damaged, 
and  the  amount  of  compensation  and  damages,  returning  the  same  in 
one  sum  in  their  verdict,  and  in  case  the  property  to  be  taken  or  dam- 
aged is  to  be  paid  for  out  of  the  General  Fund,  or  from  the  issue  and 
sale  of  bonds  of  the  City,  and  not  by  the  assessment  of  benefits  against 
real  estate,  no  further  finding  of  the  jurj'-  shall  be  necessary. 

2d.  If  the  property  taken  or  damaged  is  to  be  paid  for  by  the 
assessment  of  benefits  upon  real  estate,  the  verdict  of  said  jury  shall 
also  show  in  compensation  for  the  property  taken  or  damaged,  the 
amount,  if  any,  assessed  against  the  City,  and  shall  show  the  amount 
of  benefits  assessed  against  each  piece  and  parcel  of  private  property 
found  benefited  mthin  the  benefit  district. 

Assessor's  Records  Available. 

The  Chief  Clerk  in  the  office  of  the  City  Counselor  shall,  when 
required,  aid  said  jiiry  of  freeholders  to  put  their  verdict  into  proper 
form,  and  said  jury  may  use  the  books,  plats  and  records  in  the  office 
of  the  City  Assessor,  and  if  the  jury  shall  find  any  number  of  tracts 
or  parcels  of  land  within  the  benefit  district  are  benefited  ratably 
in  proportion  to  the  assessed  value  thereof  as  shown  by  the  books  of 
said  Assessor,  they  may  so  assess  the  same,  and  said  jury  shall  not  be 
discharged  until  their  verdict  shall  have  been  inspected  by  the  Court 
and  found  to  be  correct  in  form,  and  the  jury  may  be  required  by  the 
Court  to  correct  any  errors  of  description  or  other  clerical  errors. 
Said  verdict  shall  be  signed  by  each  of  said  jurors,  and  the  Court 
may  on  its  own  motion,  or  on  the  motion  of  the  City  or  of  any  party 
interested  in  the  proceedings,  filed  within  four  days  after  the  rendi- 
tion of  the  verdict,  for  good  cause  set  aside  the  verdict  of  said  jury 
of  freeholders,  and  thereupon  without  further  notice  may  appoint  a 
new  jury  of  freeholders  to  make  a  new  appraisement  or  assessment, 
and  fix  a  time  for  a  rehearing  of  the  whole  matter,  provided  that  the 
verdict  of  any  common-law  jury  theretofore  rendered  in  such  pro- 
ceeding, fixing  the  compensation  to  be  paid  to  any  incorporated  com- 
pany, shall  be  accepted  by  such  new  jury  of  freeholders  as  part  of  its 
finding. 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

Form  of  Judgment. 

Section  11.  The  verdict,  unless  set  aside  as  aforesaid,  shall  he 
confirmed  and  judgment  entered  thereon  that  the  City,  upon  payment 
of  the  compensation  assessed  therefor,  shall  have  and  hold  the  prop- 
erty sought  to  be  taken,  for  the  purpose  specified  in  the  ordinance 
providing  for  said  improvement,  that  the  City  pay  the  benefits  as- 
sessed against  said  City,  and  that  the  City  recover  the  respective 
amounts  assessed  against  private  property,  and  that  the  several  lots 
and  parcels  of  private  property  so  by  the  verdict  assessed  to  pay 
compensation,  stand  severally  charged  and  bound  for  the  payment  of 
the  respective  assessments  and  the  interest  that  may  accrue  thereon, 
and  if  said  assessments  are  by  the  ordinance  aforesaid  made  payable 
in  more  than  one  instalment,  the  judgment  shall  so  recite.  Such 
judgment  shall  be  by  the  Clerk  entered,  indexed  and  abstracted  in  the 
books  used  for  that  purpose,  and  if  such  assessments  or  any  portion 
thereof  against  any  tract  or  parcel  assessed,  or  any  portion  thereof, 
be  not  paid  and  discharged  when  the  same  becomes  due  or  collectible, 
and  shall  be  in  default  as  hereinafter  provided,  the  collection  of  the 
same  may  be  enforced  by  special  execution  or  executions  against  the 
lot,  tract  or  parcel  or  land  charged  with  the  lien  thereof,  and  such 
execution  or  executions  shall  issue  upon  the  filing  of  the  statement 
by  the  City  Comptroller  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  showing  what 
assessments  are  unpaid  and  collectible,  and  against  what  lots  and 
parcels  of  land,  and  the  amount  or  amounts  due  and  collectible 
thereon. 

Executions. 

The  proceedings  under  such  special  execution  or  executions  shall, 
as  far  as  practicable,  conform  to  the  proceedings  upon  special  execu- 
tions on  ordinary  judgments  foreclosing  liens  on  lands,  and  any  such 
execution  herein  authorized  shall  be  deemed  sufficient  if  it  recites  the 
date  of  the  judgment,  the  amount  assessed  and  remaining  unpaid 
against  the  tract  or  tracts  described  in  such  execution,  states  that 
such  tract  or  tracts  were  assessed  to  pay  compensation  for  private 
property  taken  or  damaged  for  public  use  as  provided  in  ordinance 
ordering  such  improvements,  giving  the  time  and  date  of  the  taking 
effect  of  such  ordinance,  and  commands  the  sheriff  to  sell  each  lot  or 
parcel  of  property  described  in  said  execution,  or  so  much  thereof  as 
may  be  necessary  to  satisfy  the  assessment,  interest  and  cost  of  such 
execution  and  sale,  and  any  number  of  tracts  and  parcels  included  in 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

one  judgment  may  be  sold  under  one  and  the  same  execution,  and  at 
the  same  time  and  in  pursuance  to  one  notice  of  sale,  in  which  case 
the  cost  of  such  execution  of  sale  shall  be  apportioned  against  the 
several  tracts  and  parcels  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  sales 
included  in  such  execution,  but  on  any  such  judgment  execution  may, 
at  the  instance  of  the  City,  issue  against  one  or  more  tracts  separately 
at  different  times  or  two  or  more  tracts  may  be  included  in  one  execu- 
tion. 

Certificates  of  Purchase. 

Upon  sale  made  by  the  sheriff  under  any  special  execution,  he 
shall  issue  to  the  purchaser  a  certificate  of  purchase  setting  forth  the 
substance  of  said  special  execution  as  it  relates  to  the  property  de- 
scribed in  such  certificate,  the  date  of  sale,  the  purchaser  of  the  prop- 
erty sold,  and  the  amount  bid.  Such  certificate  of  purchase  shall  be 
delivered  by  the  sheriff  to  the  purchaser  on  payment  of  the  amount 
bid,  which  certificate  shall  be  executed  and  acknowledged  by  such 
sheriff  before  some  officer  authorized  to  take  acknowledgments  of 
instruments  affecting  real  estate,  and  shall  be  filed  for  record  in  the 
office  of  the  Recorder  of  Deeds  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis  within  six 
months  after  the  date  of  the  same.  If  the  property  so  sold  be  re- 
deemed within  one  year  from  the  date  of  such  sale  by  the  owner  of, 
or  a  party  interested  in,  said  property,  by  payment  to  the  sheriff  of 
the  amount  due  on  said  jadgment,  together  with  any  taxes  that  may 
have  been  paid  by  the  purchaser  after  such  sale  and  before  redemp- 
tion, including  interest  on  said  amounts  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent 
per  annum,  and  costs  up  to  the  date  of  the  redemption,  no  deed  shall 
be  given  by  the  sheriff.  The  holder  of  said  certificate  of  purchase 
prior  to  the  redemption  thereof  shall  have  the  right  to  pay  general 
and  special  taxes  and  special  assessments  against  the  property  de- 
scribed in  said  certificate  of  purchase  when  the  same  are  due  and 
payable,  and  shall  deliver  the  receipt  or  receipts  thereof  to  the  sheriff, 
and  any  redemption  by  the  owner  or  party  interested  in  such  prop- 
erty shall  include  the  amount  of  such  payments  with  interest  thereon 
as  above  provided.  Upon  such  redemption  as  herein  provided,  of 
any  lot  or  parcel  of  land  sold  under  special  execution,  the  sheriff 
shall  give  a  certificate  of  redemption  describing  said  lot  or  parcel, 
and  acknowledging  receipt  in  full  of  such  judgment,  interest  and 
costs,  which  shall  be  executed  and  acknowledged  by  such  sheriff  be- 
fore some  officer  authorized  to  take  acknowledgments  of  deeds  to  real 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

estate,  and  the  cost  thereof  shall  be  included  in  the  cost  of  such  re- 
demption. If  the  lot  or  parcel  of  land  so  sold  be  not  redeemed  as 
herein  provided,  a  deed  shall  be  given  at  the  end  of  one  year  from 
the  date  of  said  sale,  by  the  sheriff,  to  the  holder  of  said  certificate. 
Such  deed  may  be  given  to  the  original  holder  or  his  assignee,  and 
shall  vest  in  the  grantee  all  the  right,  title,  interest  and  estate  in  the 
lot  or  parcel  so  sold. 

Right  of  Appeal. 

Section  12.  Any  party  aggrieved  by  any  verdict  and  judgment 
aforesaid  may  take  an  appeal  therefrom  in  the  manner  provided  by 
statute  for  appeals  in  civil  causes. 

Section  13.  The  Municipal  Assembly,  at  any  time  before  any  of 
the  assessed  benefits  shall  have  been  paid,  may  repeal  the  ordinance 
ordering  the  proposed  improvement,  if  such  repeal  be  deemed  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  City,  and  in  such  event  the  judgment  for  com- 
pensation and  benefits  shall  be  void. 

Section  14.  After  the  judgment  of  confirmation  of  such  verdict 
and  proceedings  the  Clerk  of  said  Court  shall  certify  under  the  seal 
of  said  Court  a  copy  of  said  verdict,  which  shall  be  delivered  by  said 
Clerk  to  the  Comptroller  of  said  City.  The  lien  of  such  assessment 
shall  continue  against  each  lot  or  parcel  assessed  until  the  assessment 
against  such  lot  or  parcel  has  been  paid  or  collected  in  full,  both 
principal  and  interest.  No  assessment  shall  be  defeated  or  affected 
by  any  irregularity  affecting  any  other  assessment  or  from  the  ren- 
dering of  any  other  assessment  invalid  in  whole  or  in  part. 

Payments  by  Instalments. 

Section  15.  Said  assessments  shall  be  payable  in  one  instalment, 
or  in  such  number  of  annual  instalments  as  may  be  determined  by 
the  Municipal  Assembly,  upon  the  recommendations  of  the  Board  of 
Public  Improvements,  such  determination  to  be  declared  in  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  Municipal  Assembly  under  which  said  proceedings  are 
instituted.  AU  assessments  confirmed  by  the  Circuit  Court  during 
any  year  ending  with  the  thirtieth  of  April,  if  payable  in  more  than 
one  instalment,  shall  have  their  first  instalment  due  on  the  thirtieth 
day  of  June  next  following,  and  the  successive  instalments  shall  be 
due  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  each  succeeding  June  until  all  shall  have 
been  paid,  with  interest  as  provided  by  law;  provided,  that  assess- 
ments payable  in  one  instalment  shall  be  payable  without  interest 
within  sixty  days  after  said  judgment  of  confirmation  thereof,  and 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

if  not  so  paid,  shall  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent  per 
annum  from  the  date  of  the  confirmation  thereof,  and  execution  may 
issue  thereon.  Instalments  of  all  assessments  payable  in  more  than 
one  instalment  may  be  paid  without  interest  within  sixty  days  after 
the  date  of  the  judgment  of  confirmation  of  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
making  said  assessment;  but  if  not  so  paid,  they  shall  bear  interest 
at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent  per  annum  from  the  date  of  said  judg- 
ment of  confirmation,  and  such  interest  shall  be  due  and  payable  an- 
nually on  the  thirtieth  day  of  June  of  each  year ;  Provided,  however, 
that  the  owner  of  the  property  charged  with  the  payment  of  such 
assessment  or  any  instalment  thereof,  or  the  owner  of  any  interest 
therein,  shall  have  the  privilege  of  paying  such  assessment  in  full, 
or  any  instalment  thereof,  at  any  time  by  paying  all  the  interest 
thereon  to  a  date  six  months  after  the  date  of  said  payment,  except 
only  as  to  any  instalment  due  within  six  months  from  the  date  of 
such  payment,  upon  which  instalment  interest  shall  be  paid  to  ma- 
turity thereof.  All  instalments  of  assessments,  and  interest  on  any 
such  instalments,  if  not  paid  at  maturity,  shall  bear  interest  thereon 
at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent  per  annum  until  paid ;  and  if  any  instal- 
ment of  any  assessment  payable  in  more  than  one  instalment,  or  if 
interest  on  any  instalments  be  not  paid  at  maturity  and  shall  remain 
in  default  for  three  months  thereafter,  then  all  the  unpaid  instal- 
ments and  interest  shall  be  collectible,  together  with  interest  thereon 
at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent  per  annum  from  the  date  of  the  maturity 
of  said  interest  or  instalment  in  default,  and  special  executions  may 
issue  as  aforesaid  for  the  collection  of  all  the  instalments  and  interest 
unpaid  and  the  costs  of  such  collection.  Provided,  that  the  owner 
or  party  interested  may  pay  to  the  City  Treasurer,  application  hav- 
ing first  been  made  to  the  Comptroller  who  shall  issue  a  statement 
to  the  Treasurer  concerning  the  amount  due  upon  such  assessment^ 
at  any  time  before  special  execution  has  issued  against  his  land,  the 
amount  of  the  instalment  or  instalments  and  interest  in  default  with 
interest  thereon  at  eight  per  cent  as  aforesaid,  in  which  case  the  in- 
stalments not  then  due  shall  not  be  affected  by  such  default. 

Records  of  Assessments. 

Section  16.  The  Comptroller  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  special 
assessments  charged  against  lands  as  herein  specified.  All  assess- 
ments and  interest  thereon  shall  be  payable  at  the  office  of  the  City 
Treasurer,  application  having  first  been  made  to  the  Comptroller  who 
shall  issue  a  statement  to  the  City  Treasurer  concerning  such  assess- 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

ment,  upon  application  of  the  party  desiring  to  pay  the  same  at  any 
time  before  special  execution  has  issued  thereon,  and  thereafter  they 
shall  be  payable  to  the  sheriff  with  costs  at  any  time  before  the  date 
of  the  sale,  and  when  any  person  shall  pay  an  assessment  or  instal- 
ment it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  City  Treasurer  to  sign  a  receipt  in 
triplicate,  the  original  of  which  shall  be  delivered  to  the  party  paying 
the  assessment,  one  copy  to  the  Auditor,  and  one  to  the  Comptroller, 
and  the  City  Comptroller  shall  make  and  keep  a  perfect  record  and 
account  showing  all  sums  that  have  been  received  by  the  Treasurer 
on  account  of  such  improvements,  the  assessment  for  each  improve- 
ment being  kept  together  in  the  books  of  the  Comptroller 's  office  as  an 
account  of  that  particular  improvement.  Upon  the  payment  in  full, 
together  with  all  interest,  of  any  assessment  against  a  piece  of  prop- 
erty, the  City  Comptroller  shall  notify  the  City  Counselor  that  the 
assessment  against  said  particular  property  has  been  fully  paid  and 
satisfied,  and  upon  the  receipt  of  such  notice  the  City  Counselor  shall 
acknowledge  satisfaction  of  the  judgment  as  affecting  such  piece  of 
property. 

Special  Trust  Funds. 

Section  17.  The  money  collected  by  the  Treasurer  upon  such 
assessments,  and  all  interest  thereon,  together  with  the  proceeds  of 
sale  of  lands  under  special  execution,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  held  upon 
special  trust  to  be  applied  in  payment  on  lands  taken,  damaged  or 
condemned  as  aforesaid,  or  in  payment  of  park  fund  certificates  as 
hereinafter  provided,  and  any  surplus  resulting  after  all  such  pay- 
ments shall  have  been  made,  shall  be  kept  in  a  fund  to  be  applied  and 
shall  be  appropriated  from  time  to  time  by  the  Municipal  Assembly 
towards  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  improvement  established  by 
such  proceedings.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Comptroller  to  keep  a 
separate  and  full  account  for  each  list  of  special  assessments  growing 
out  of  a  separate  proceeding  as  aforesaid,  of  all  moneys  received  and 
paid  out  and  of  all  park  fund  certificates,  if  any,  issued  thereon,  and 
of  the  payment  and  cancellation  of  the  same,  and  of  the  distribution 
of  dividends  made  thereon  as  hereinafter  set  forth,  and  he  shall  make 
report  thereof  each  year  as  part  of  his  annual  report  and  shall  pub- 
lish the  same  with  his  annual  statement.  At  the  date  when  any  in 
stalment  or  payment  shall  become  due  upon  such  assessments,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  City  Comptroller  to  proceed  to  collect  all  such  de- 
linquent assessments  in  the  manner  provided  in  Section  11  of  this 
Article;  Provided,  that  if  the  holder  of  a  majority  of  any  series  of 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 


park  fund  certificates  issued  in  pursuance  of  this  Article  shall  require 
the  collection  of  any  instalments  of  any  assessments  that  may  be  de- 
linquent upon  which  said  series  of  park  fund  certificates  are  based, 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  City  Comptroller  to  make  out  a  list  of  such 
delinquents  and  proceed  to  collect  the  same  as  aforesaid.  Any 
moneys  received  from  special  assessments  upon  which  no  park  fund 
certificates  have  been  issued  shall  be  applied  directly  to  the  purposes 
for  which  said  assessments  were  made,  but  the  City  Treasurer  shall 
hold  all  funds  collected  from  special  assessments,  with  interest  there- 
on, if  any,  until  the  same  are  applied  to  the  purposes  for  which  said 
assessments  were  made,  and  he  shall  be  responsible  for  the  safe  keep- 
ing of  said  funds,  to  the  same  extent  as  for  other  City  funds,  and 
shall  keep  separate  accounts  of  the  money  so  paid  in,  and  all  interest 
accruing  on  daily  balances  shall  be  credited  to  such  funds,  and  for 
any  breach  of  duty  by  the  Treasurer  or  Comptroller  prescribed  in 
this  Article,  they  and  each  of  them  shall  be  liable  for  a  breach  of 
duty  as  in  respect  to  any  other  City  funds,  and  the  bond  required 
for  the  Treasurer  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties  shall  be  held 
to  cover  also  the  duties  regarding  all  moneys  collected  from  special 
assessments  as  aforesaid  and  his  duties  as  trustee  hereunder  and  his 
bondsmen  shall  be  liable  for  any  breach  of  said  trust  or  said  duty. 

Park  Fund  Certificates. 

Section  18.  After  the  confirmation  by  the  Circuit  Court  or  Ap- 
pellate Court  on  appeal  as  hereinbefore  provided,  of  any  verdict  in 
any  proceeding  in  which  special  benefits  are  assessed  against  real  es- 
tate as  compensation  for  property  taken,  damaged  or  condemned  for 
park  or  parkway  purposes,  the  Municipal  Assembly,  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  raising  money  in  advance  of  the  dates  when  assessments  are  due, 
to  pay  for  land  taken,  damaged  or  condemned,  may  provide  by  ordi- 
nance that  the  City  Comptroller  shall  issue  park  fund  certificates  in 
an  amount  not  to  exceed  the  total  amount  of  assessments  against  the 
private  property  shown  in  any  such  verdict,  and  unpaid  at  the  ex- 
piration of  sixty  days  from  the  confirmation  thereof  as  aforesaid. 
Such  certificates  shall  be  in  such  form  and  for  such  sums  as  may  be 
provided  by  ordinance,  and  shall  be  either  payable  to  the  order  of 
the  registered  holder  or  be  payable  to  bearer.  Any  such  certificate 
shall  entitle  the  holder  or  owner  thereof  to  his  proportionate  share, 
as  shown  by  such  certificate,  of  the  special  assessments  and  the  in- 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

terest  thereon  as  the  same  are  collected  upon  which  such  certificates 
are  issued,  and  shall  so  specify. 

Distribution  of  the  amounts  collected  upon  said  special  assess- 
ments, including  interest,  shall  be  made  to  the  holder  or  holders  of 
such  certificates  pro  rata  at  least  semi-annually,  at  such  specified  dates 
as  may  be  provided  in  the  ordinance  authorizing  the  issuance  of  the 
same,  and  the  holder  shall  receipt  for  such  payments,  and  the  City 
shall  be  liable  on  such  certificates,  to  the  holders  thereof  for  the  sums 
collected  from  the  special  assessments,  upon  which  said  certificates 
are  issued,  and  not  otherwise. 

Should  the  purchaser  or  holder  elect,  said  certificates  shall  be 
registered  by  the  Comptroller  in  the  name  of  the  owner  and  his  as- 
signs from  time  to  time. 

Protection  of  Certificates. 

All  park  fund  certificates  issued  on  account  of  special  assess- 
ments growing  out  of  the  same  condemnation  or  assessment  proceed- 
ing, including  supplemental  proceedings,  which  shall  be  considered 
a  part  of  the  original  proceedings,  shall  be  designated  as  a  series, 
and  if  any  series  comprises  more  than  one  certificate,  such  certificates 
shall  be  numbered. 

Each  of  such  park  fund  certificates  shall  bear  the  certificate  of 
the  Comptroller  that  the  same  is  one  of  a  series  of  certificates  issued 
on  account  of  certain  assessments,  to  which  such  series  relates,  and 
that  such  series  is  not  in  excess  of  the  same ;  and  the  Comptroller  shall 
keep  a  record  of  all  certificates  issued  in  each  series,  and  of  all  pay- 
ments and  dividends  thereon,  and  shall  publish  the  same  in  his  annual 
statement,  and  also  statements  of  the  amounts  received  from  such 
assessments,  and  shall  at  the  request  of  the  holder  of  any  park  fund 
certificates  certify  to  such  holder  the  amount  that  has  been  collected 
and  paid  on  the  same  from  assessments,  both  principal  and  interest. 

Immediately  upon  full  payment  and  surrender  of  any  park  fund 
certificates,  the  City  Comptroller  shall  cancel  the  same  and  keep  a 
record  thereof.  But  when  all  the  assessments  represented  by  a  series 
of  such  certificates  have  been  fully  collected  so  far  as  possible,  with 
interest  thereon,  and  all  sums  collected  have  been  distributed  as  afore- 
said, such  certificates  shall  be  surrendered  and  cancelled,  and  if  not 
surrendered  shall  nevertheless  be  void. 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

Certificates  At  Not  Less  Than  Par. 

Section  19.  The  Comptroller  shall  sell  such  park  fund  certifi- 
cates at  such  price  not  less  than  the  face  value  of  the  amount  of  the 
assessments,  excluding  interest  represented  by  said  certificates,  as  may 
be  obtainable,  and  shall  determine  the  manner  and  means  of  such 
sale.  Such  certificates  shall  be  delivered  by  the  Comptroller  to  the 
purchaser  upon  payment  therefor  to  the  City  Treasurer,  and  the 
Comptroller  shall  keep  a  record  thereof;  and  the  proceeds  of  such 
certificates  so  sold  shall  be  used  for  payment  for  the  land  taken,  dam- 
aged or  condemned  for  park  or  parkway  purposes,  for  the  establish- 
ment of  which  the  assessments  were  made,  on  which  such  certificates 
are  issued,  and  any  surplus  remaining  after  all  such  payments  are 
made  in  full,  shall  accumulate  and  create  a  fund  for  the  payment  of 
the  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  improvement  established  by  such  pro- 
ceedings; but  such  certificates  may  by  agreement  be  issued  directly 
in  payment  for  land  taken,  damaged  or  condemned  for  park  or  park- 
way purposes,  and  upon  the  issuance  of  such  park  certificates  in  direct 
payment  for  the  land  so  taken,  damaged  or  condemned,  the  owner 
shall  execute  to  the  City  a  receipt  and  release  in  full  for  such  amounts 
awarded  by  the  final  judgment  in  said  proceeding.  All  payments 
made  out  of  the  City  Treasury  for  land  condemned  under  this  Ar- 
ticle, as  well  as  payments  made  to  the  holders  of  park  fund  certifi- 
cates issued  hereunder,  shall  be  upon  requisition  to  the  Auditor  for 
warrants  signed  by  the  Comptroller. 

Section  20.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Comptroller  at  all  times 
to  protect  such  park  fund  certificates  by  all  means  provided  therefor, 
and  he  shall  cause  to  be  paid  out  by  the  City  Treasurer  all  sums  col- 
lected from  special  assessments  as  aforesaid,  to  the  holders  of  such 
certificates  issued  thereon,  which  payments  shall  be  made  promptly 
to  such  holders  on  demand  on  the  dates  fixed  for  the  distribution 
thereof  as  provided  by  ordinance. 

Supplemental  Proceedings. 

Section  21.  When,  by  reason  of  any  error,  defect  or  omission 
in  any  proceedings  that  may  be  instituted  under  the  provisions  of  this 
Article,  a  portion  of  the  private  property  sought  to  be  taken,  or  some 
interest  therein,  cannot  be  acquired,  or  an  assessment  is  made  against 
private  property  which  cannot  be  enforced  or  collected,  the  City 
Counselor  upon  advice  from  the  Comptroller,  may,  and  in  case  park 
fund  certificates  have  been  issued,  shall  institute,  carry  on  and  main- 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

tain  supplemental  proceedings  to  acquire  the  right  and  title  to  such 
property  or  interest  therein,  intended  to  be  taken  by  the  first  pro- 
ceeding, but  which  cannot  on  account  of  such  defect,  error  or  omis- 
sion, be  acquired  thereunder,  or  to  properly  assess  against  any  piece 
or  parcel  of  private  property  against  which  an  assessment  was  in  the 
first  proceeding  erroneously  made,  or  omitted  to  be  made,  the  proper 
amount  that  such  private  property,  exclusive  of  the  improvements 
thereon,  is  benefited  by  the  proposed  park,  parkway  or  other  im- 
provements to  be  determined  by  the  verdict  of  the  jury  in  such  sup- 
plemental proceedings;  and  the  original  assessments  may  be  revised, 
corrected,  increased  or  diminished  as  may  be  necessary  or  equitable 
under  the  provisions  of  this  Article  for  the  original  proceedings. 
Such  supplemental  proceedings  shall  be  instituted  and  conducted  as 
to  the  particular  piece  or  pieces  of  private  property  sought  to  be 
acquired  or  assessed,  in  like  manner  and  with  like  effect  as  in  the 
original  proceedings,  and  shall  be  known  and  described  as  supple- 
mental proceedings,  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  original  ordi- 
nance; and  a  supplemental  verdict  and  assessment  shall  be  made, 
confirmed  and  a  copy  of  the  verdict  certified  in  every  particular  as 
in  the  original  proceedings,  and  the  assessments  as  established  and 
corrected  by  such  supplemental  verdict  shall  be  collected  by  the 
Comptroller  in  the  same  manner  and  under  like  conditions  and  re- 
strictions, powers  and  duties  as  in  the  case  of  original  proceedings, 
and  remain  and  be  pledged  for  the  payment  of  park  fund  certificates, 
if  any,  that  have  been  issued,  or  that  may  be  issued  thereon. 

Full  Payment  Before  Possession. 

Section  22.  The  City  shall  not  be  entitled  to  the  possession  of 
any  lot  or  parcel  of  property  taken  under  the  provisions  of  this  Ar- 
ticle until  full  payment  of  the  compensation  therefor,  as  determined, 
be  made  or  paid  into  Court  for  the  use  of  the  persons  in  whose  favor 
such  judgment  may  have  been  rendered,  or  who  may  be  lawfully  en- 
titled to  the  same,  and  upon  such  payment  as  aforesaid,  such  Circuit 
Court,  or  judge  thereof,  in  which  proceedings  were  had,  shall  imme- 
diately order,  adjudge  and  decree  that  the  title  in  fee  to,  and  every 
other  interest  in  the  land  so  condemned  and  taken  for  such  park  or 
parkway  be  divested  out  of  such  owner  and  other  persons  interested, 
and  vested  forever  in  the  City  for  such  public  use ;  and  the  Court 
shall  thereupon,  without  delay,  put  the  City  in  the  possession  thereof, 
and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  City  Counselor,  within  six  months 
after  the  rendition  of  the  judgment  and  decree  vesting  the  title  of 

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Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

such  land  in  said  City  as  aforesaid,  to  cause  a  duly  certified  copy  of 
said  judgment  or  decree  to  be  filed  and  recorded  in  the  office  of  the 
Recorder  of  Deeds  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis. 

Conflicting  Claims. 

And  subsequent  legal  proceedings  shall  not  affect  the  title  or  pos- 
session of  the  City  to  said  property  so  acquired,  but  shall  only  affect 
the  question  of  damages  and  assessments  for  benefits,  and  the  value 
to  be  fixed  in  such  subsequent  proceedings,  if  any,  shall  be  as  of  the 
date  of  the  original  proceedings,  and  no  improvement  of  the  property 
made  in  the  meantime  shall  be  considered.  If  the  title  to  the  prop- 
erty taken  be  in  controversy,  the  right  to  the  compensation  therefor 
shall  be  determined  in  a  suit  between  the  parties  claiming  the  same, 
in  which  none  of  the  costs  of  litigation  shall  be  borne  by  the  City, 
unless  the  City  is  one  of  the  claimants,  and  during  such  controversy 
such  compensation  shall  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  Court;  but 
the  title  and  possession  of  the  City  to  the  property  taken  shall  not 
be  in  any  manner  affected  by  such  controversy. 

Section  23.  The  lands  which  may  be  selected  and  obtained 
under  the  provisions  of  this  Article  shall  remain  forever  for  parks 
and  parkways  for  the  use  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  said  City. 

Section  24.  The  City  shall  pay  all  costs  of  proceedings  under 
this  Article  to  take  or  damage  private  property  or  to  levy  assessments 
for  benefits  as  herein  provided,  except  costs  of  proceedings  for  col- 
lecting overdue  assessments,  which  shall  be  taxed  against  the  real  es- 
tate upon  which  said  assessments  are  levied,  and  except  the  costs  upon 
appeal,  which  shall  be  paid  by  the  party  unsuccessfully  prosecuting 
the  same ;  and  the  City  Counselor  shall,  personally,  or  by  any  of  his 
associates  and  assistants,  and  as  a  part  of  his  duties  as  such  Coun- 
selor, conduct  all  Court  proceedings  under  this  Article. 

If  the  City  fails  to  collect  any  assessments,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
it  may  pay  the  amount  not  so  collected  out  of  the  City  Treasury, 

Regulation  and  Improvement. 

Section  25.  The  Municipal  Assembly  may  by  ordinance  recom- 
mended by  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  regulate  the  traffic  on 
all  parkways,  and  may  regulate  the  width  of  tires  of  all  vehicles  used 
on  or  passing  over  the  roadways  within  the  same,  may  exclude  heavy 
driving  thereon,  or  any  kind  of  vehicles  therefrom;  and  may  provide 

—  30  — 


Report  Recommending  Charter  Amendment 

for  grading,  re-grading,  paving,  re-paving,  curbing,  re-curbing,  gut- 
tering, re-guttering,  improving,  constructing,  re-constructing,  plant- 
ing of  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  all  other  things  of  that  description 
and  nature  thereon,  and  for  the  laying  out  of  driveways,  trafficways, 
roads,  walks  and  all  other  ways  for  transportation  thereon,  and  may 
provide  for  the  payment  of  the  entire  cost  for  such  work,  or  improve- 
ments, or  any  part  thereof,  out  of  the  general  revenue  fund,  or  if  the 
Board  of  Public  Improvements  shall  so  recommend,  the  entire  cost 
connected  with  any  or  all  of  said  work,  upon  such  parkway,  or  the 
cost  of  any  of  such  work,  or  portion  thereof,  may  be  levied,  assessed 
and  collected  as  a  special  tax  on  the  property  fronting  or  bordering 
on  such  parkway  in  the  proportion  that  the  linear  feet  of  each  lot 
fronting  or  bordering  on  such  parkway,  bears  to  the  total  number  of 
linear  feet  of  all  property  fronting  or  bordering  on  the  same,  and  all 
special  tax  bills  for  all  work  shall  be  made  out  in  the  name  of  the  con- 
tractor, and  delivered  to  him,  and  his  receipt  taken  for  all  claims 
against  the  City  in  the  same  manner  as  provided  by  this  Charter  for 
other  special  tax  bills  for  doing  public  work.  All  such  special  tax 
bills  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  liability  of  the  property 
charged  therewith  to  the  extent  and  amount  therein  stated. 

Section  26.  The  Municipal  Assembly  shall  enact  all  ordinances 
necessary  or  proper  for  the  carrying  into  effect  of  the  provisions  of 
this  Article. 


—  31 


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